Measuring achievement and shortfall improvements in a consistent way
Permanyer, Iñaki (Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics)

Date:	2015
Abstract:	When standards of living are measured with bounded indicators-as is commonly the case with health or education variables improvements over time can be assessed through achievements or the corresponding shortfalls. Integrating both approaches into a common framework, we propose the corresponding achievement and shortfall improvement indices and characterize them axiomatically. However, rankings of alternative social states in terms of achievements and shortfalls do not necessarily go hand in hand. We present the necessary and su¢ cient conditions under which our achievement and shortfall improvement indices rank social states in a consistent way. Since improvement indices proposed in the literature so far have only shown results at the country level, we suggest collecting information at arbitrary small levels of aggregation to be able to uncover unobserved heterogeneity, complementing traditional country-level analysis and taking into account the entire distribution of local-level improvements over time. Empirical illustrations using census data from five African countries suggest that consistency between achievement and shortfall improvements in standards of living is not only a matter of theoretical import but it is also a problem that can be encountered in practice to a large extent.
Grants:	European Commission 637768 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad ECO2013-46516-C4-1-R
Rights:	Tots els drets reservats.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Subject:	Improvement measurement ; Bounded variables ; Shortfall ; Achievement ; Consistency ; Inequality aversion
Published in:	Review of income and wealth, April 2015

DOI: 10.1111/roiw.12194

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Social and Legal Sciences > Centre for Demographic Studies (CED-CERCA)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles