One more alternative way of spelling Gini

The distribution of a total magnitude among individuals, families, municipalities, provinces, countries, etc. is one of the hot topics of the scientific literature, especially in the case that such a magnitude is an economic magnitude (usually income or income-related). The Gini index or Gini coefficient has been, and continues to be, the most popular instrument to measure the degree of inequality in such a distribution. Thus, it is no surprise that Yitzhaki (2013) has published recently a brilliant book chapter entitled “More than a Dozen Alternative Ways of Spelling Gini,” based on his previous research (Yitzhaki, 1988, 2003).

This article presents one more alternative, which was named E-Index by Montero (2000, 2007) in memory of Emilio Lorenzo. It also shows the between- and within-groups decomposition of such an index. The E-index and its decomposition in the between- and within-groups concentration components is illustrated by studying concentration in the distribution of subsidies of the Common Agricultural Policy among the receivers of the Autonomous Community of Castile-La Mancha (Spain). The basic unit of analysis is municipality. Since the data corresponding to some municipalities are missing they have been estimated using spatial geostatistics, and more specifically universal kriging, the prediction technique geostatistics uses in the presence of a spatial drift, as is the case with the subsidies of the Common Agricultural Policy in Castile-La Mancha. The groups of municipalities considered in the analysis were constructed on the basis of the amount of aid received. As expected, the results reveal that 90% of the total concentration is due to the between-groups concentration. This finding is robust to the size and number of groups.