The Lorenz Curve as a Peace Research Tool
| DOI | 10.1177/002234337701400401 |
| Published date | 01 December 1977 |
| Author | Tord Høivik |
| Date | 01 December 1977 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
The
Lorenz
Curve
as
a
Peace
Research
Tool
TORD
HØIVIK
International
Peace
Research
Institute,
Oslo
The
Lorenz
curve
is
a
diagram
which
shows
how
goods
are
distributed
in
a
population.
It
has
been
used
extensively
in
economics,
mainly
to
study
distributions
of
income
and
wealth.
In
this
paper
we
show
how
the
curve
can
be
applied
in
peace
research,
how
the
basic
curve
can
be
generalized
to
bivariate
and
trivariate
forms
of
analysis,
and
how
parameters
of
inequality
are
related
to
the
curve.
Most
of
the
mathematical
results
are
restatements,
in
less
technical
language,
of
well-known
prop-
erties
of the
curve,
but with
a
stress
on
the
social
and
political
implications
of
the
methodology.
1.
Introduction
In
social
science,
distributions
are
often
an-
alyzed
graphically
by
frequency
curves
in
the
univariate,
and
by
scatter-diagrams
in
the
bivariate
case.
There
exists,
however,
another
simple
graphical
method
that
can
be
used
when
the
variable
is
non-negative
and
ratio
scale:
the
Lorenz
curve.
The
curve
itself
has
a
long
tradition
in
economics,
particularly
in
the
study
of
income
distributions
and
market
concentration,
and
has
to
some
extent
been
used
in
other
social
sciences
as
well for
inves-
tigating,
inter
alia,
patterns
of
land
tenure,
degrees
of
residential
segregation,
and
the
representativeness
of
election
districts.
The
aim
here
is
to
show
its
possibilities
as
a
tool,
partly
by
summarizing
relevant
earlier
work,
partly
by
introducing
some
new
approaches.
Our
particular
interest
in
the
curve
stems
from
the
fact
that
it
expresses
visually
two
concepts
of
great
importance
in
peace
re-
search :
inequality
and
imbalance.
As
used
here,
inequality
refers
to
a
situa-
tion
where
a
population
of
n
units -
not
necessarily
individuals -
share
a
total
amount
P
of
some
good
or
’bad’,
and
we
are
in-
terested
in
how
unit
shares
differ.
We
deal,
in
other
words,
with
distributive
rather
than
rank
inequality.
’Bads’
are
not
explicitly
treated
in
the
article,
since
the
appropriate
modifications
are
easy
to
make.
Imbalance
is
bivariate
inequality.
Let
two
different
goods
P
and
Q
be
distributed
among
the
same
n
units
so
that
This
bivariate
distribution
is
said
to
be
bal-
anced
if
every
unit
receives
the
same
propor-
tion
of
P
and
Q,
that
is
if
(2)
Pi;P=Qi/Q
for
all
i
The
condition
for
balance
can
be
rewritten
as
implying
that
all
units
have
the
same
P
to
Q
ratio.
Imbalance
is
any
deviation
from
(2)
or
(3).
2.
Unit
and
Universe
The
idea
of
distributing
a
good
carries
with
it
the .
idea
of
responsibility.
A
statistical
distribution
as
such
is
a
neutral
object,
but
as
soon
as
we
look
on
income,
farm
land,
or
schooling
as
goods
that
are
limited
in
amount,
what
every
single
unit
receives
has
con-
sequences
for
the
rest.
The
distribution
points
to
a
distributing
mechanism,
and
our
atten-
tion
is
drawn
to
the
political
issue
of
redis-
tribution.
In
this
context
the
choice
of
unit
and
the
choice
of
universe
become
important.
Is
the
relevant
income
distribution
unit
the
adult
individual -
whether
employed
or
not;
the
employee -
whether
part-time
or
full-time;
or
only
the
full-time
worker?
Or
is it
the
single
family?
Should
the
oligopoly
study
focus
on
single
firms
in
the
legal
sense,
or
on
sets
of
interlocking
enterprises
(conglomerates,
car-
tels,
holding
companies)?
What
regional
unit
is
adequate
for
studies
of
regional
inequality:
municipality,
county,
or
province?
The
universe
is
equally
difficult
to
pin
down.
Is
the
nation
the
best
universe
for
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