A Distribution-Free Test for Deprivation Dominance

Abstract

The Rawlsian perspective on social policy pays particular attention to the least advantaged members of society, but how should "the least advantaged" be identified? The concept of deprivation dominance operationalizes in part the Rawlsian evaluation of the welfare of the least advantaged members of society, but a statistical procedure for testing deprivation dominance is needed. In this paper, we construct a new distribution-free test for deprivation dominance and apply it to Canadian income survey data.