Inequality Within and Between Families / Eytan Sheshinski, Yoram Weiss.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sheshinski, Eytan.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Weiss, Yoram.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w0405.

NBER working paper series no. w0405

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Income distribution.

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 1979.

Cambridge, Mass. : National Bureau of Economic Research, 1979.

Summary:

Between-family differences in expenditures and output reflect the effect of simultaneous increases in children's ability on the willingness of parents to transfer resources to them. Within-family differences also reflect the attitudes of parents toward disparity among children. In this paper we characterize the conditions on parents' preferences that determine whether between-family differences exceed within-family differences. For an additive utility, within-family differences in expenditures always exceed between-family differences. This may also be true for the maximum utility function if an increase in ability reduces the marginal utility of income. Within-family differences in output (utility or income) can also exceed between-family differences. In this case, the implication for income distribution is that equality is enhanced by a higher correlation of ability between brothers.

Notes:

Print version record

November 1979.