First published in 1973, this book presents a systematic treatment of the conceptual framework as well as the practical problems of measurement of inequality. Alternative approaches are evaluated in terms of their philosophical assumptions, economic content, and statistical requirements. In a new introduction, Amartya Sen, jointly with James Foster, critically surveys the literature that followed the r s1ication of this book, and also evaluates the main analytical issues in the appraisal of economic inequality and poverty.
Readership: Economists, social scientists, political and moral philosophers.
Amartya Sen, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge
"Rarely has so small a volume offered so comprehensive an overview of its subject, constituting a readable and intelligent evaluation of the literature of economic inequality." - William Baumol, Economica
"Professor Sen is well known for his contributions to the higher reaches of welfare economics. The series of four lectures which comprise this book display his usual clarity and rigour of expression." - Economist
