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Complete Orderings: Index Types and the Ambiguity Problem

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Multilateral Wellbeing Comparison in a Many Dimensioned World

Part of the book series: Global Perspectives on Wealth and Distribution ((GPWD))

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Abstract

Here, the various forms of indices used for summarizing aspects of distributions are discussed. Univariate and multivariate measures of location, dispersion and polarization are outlined as is the way they may be combined to reflect the collective wellbeing of individual groups in a society to provide a complete ordering of those groups. One of the problems with such an ordering is that it can be ambiguous; this is illustrated at the end of the chapter with an example comparing a collection of nations in the European Union.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In a similar fashion, average, median or modal returns in a portfolio say nothing about the riskiness or variability of those returns and, if this is of concern such location measures need to be modified accordingly.

  2. 2.

    If, for example, a comparison of income inequality in the United States (measured in US$) with that of Bangladesh (measured in Takas) is required, a unit free measure will do the trick since currency values cancel out.

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  1. Department of Economics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Gordon Anderson

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Anderson, G. (2019). Complete Orderings: Index Types and the Ambiguity Problem. In: Multilateral Wellbeing Comparison in a Many Dimensioned World. Global Perspectives on Wealth and Distribution. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21130-1_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21130-1_3

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-21129-5

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