Atkinson Index

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Anthony Barnes Atkinson developed various indexes. In statistics the Atkinson indexes are a measures of income inequality. The indexes can be turned into normative measures once we impose a coefficient [\varepsilon] to weight incomes.

The formulas are:

[A=1-\frac\left(\frac\sum_^y_^\right)^\forall \varepsilon>0,\varepsilon \neq 1]

and:

[A=1-\frac\left(\prod_^y_\right)^\ \mbox\ \varepsilon=1,]

where [y_] is individual income (i = 1, 2, ..., N) and [\mu] is the mean income.

An entropy measure from Atkinson can be computed from the Theil index (example without using [\varepsilon]): [Atkinsonindex = 1 - e^]

See also