Thinking about Inequality: Personal Judgment and Income Distributions

What is inequality? In recent years there has been an explosion of interest in the subject that has yielded a substantial body of formal tools and results for income-distribution analysis. But does the standard axiomatic structure coincide with public perceptions of inequality? Or is the economist's concept of inequality a thing apart, perpetuated through serial brainwashing in the way the subject is studied and taught? Amiel and Cowell examine the evidence from a large international questionnaire experiment using student respondents. Along with basic "cake-sharing" issues, related questions involving social-welfare rankings, the relationship between inequality and overall income growth and the meaning of poverty comparisons are considered.