A Decomposition of the Atkinson Index through the Shapley Value

Joss Sánchez-Pérez

Faculty of Economics, Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí; San Luis Potosí, México.

DOI: 10.4236/tel.[phone]                

Abstract

This paper studies the economic inequality as a phenomenon resulting from two variables: The variable of responsibility which depends on the agents’ performance in the economy, and the variable of opportunity which is independent of the individuals’ performance in the economy. Identifying the contribution of the inequality of opportunity in the total inequality as the problem to be measured, we propose a decomposition of the Atkinson inequality index, by using one of the central solution concepts of cooperative game theory, called the Shapley value.

Keywords

Atkinson Index; Shapley Value; Opportunity Inequality

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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