Poverty comparisons when TIP curves intersect

Abstract

Non-intersection of TIP curves is recognized as a criterion to compare two income distributions in terms of poverty. The purpose of this paper is to obtain comparable poverty results for income distributions whose TIP curves intersect (possibly more than once). To deal with such situations, a sequence of higher-degree dominance criteria between TIP curves is introduced. The normative significance of these criteria is provided in terms of a sequence Cn of nested classes of linear poverty measures with the property that, as the order n of the class increases, the measures become more and more sensitive to the distribution of income among the poorest.