Ordinal Comparison of Multidimensional Deprivation: Theory and Application

This paper develops an ordinal method of comparison of multidi- mensional inequality. In our model, distribution g is more unequal than distribution f when the distributions have common arithmetic median and g can be obtained from f by one or more elementary shifts in pop- ulation density that increase inequality. For our benchmark 2x2 case (i.e. the case of two binary outcome variables), we derive an empiri- cal method for making inequality comparisons. As an illustration, we apply the model to childhood poverty in Mozambique.