Problem Set

Due Wednesday 20 October, 2004.

A few guidelines:

• You are strongly encouraged to work with others. You may (and should) discuss any aspect of the questions with anyone. However, your write-up should represent your own understanding.
• Problem write-ups are your permanent record of your understanding of the material covered. This is especially true in a course such as this in which there are no exams. As such, it's important that you explain your methods thoroughly and fully.
• For the longer response questions, please type your responses unless you have unusually neat handwriting. Thanks.

1. Consider the salaries shown below in the table. This is based on a survey of the salaries of all employees at the University of Vermont. The survey is online at: http://www.uvm.edu/~wmiller/uvmpay98.html.
   1. Estimate the Gini coefficient for the data.
   2. Discuss and interpret the Gini coefficient you calculated. In one or two paragraphs, address the following questions:
      • Do you think the Gini coefficient is indicative of a problem (moral or ethical) or does it indicate a situation which is fair and just?
      • Why do you think the Gini coefficient is what it is? What mechanisms might have led to the observed level of inequality?
      In your response, you might wish to compare your Gini coefficient to others that we've calculated or read about. (Obviously, there are no "right" answers to the questions above.)

   3. Calculate the mean and median values for your data set.

   4. Calculate the P90/P10 ratio for your data set.

   Note: If the UVM salaries don't interest you, feel free to choose another data set an perform the same analysis on it. You could do another sports team, average incomes across countries, data from the U.S. (or other) census, salaries at some institution for which data is publicly available, etc. You should consult me before settling on a data set to explore. It's fine if you use the same data set as others. Your calculation should be accompanied by a brief explanation of what the Gini coefficient is and how you calculated it.

2. True or false: If two distributions have the same Gini coefficients, then those two distributions must be identical. Explain your answer.

   
   
   
   

   Yadav,Dharam Paul	Associate Professor	$53,170.00
   Yager,Kathryn M.	Lab Animal Fac Suprv II	$21,445.00
   Yandell,David Wendell	Professor	$127,510.00
   Yandow,Catheryn Agan	Graphic Assistant	$24,619.00
   Yang,Jianke	Assistant Professor	$47,000.00
   Yang,Jie	Assistant Professor	$43,566.00
   Yang,Yuanyuan	Associate Professor	$62,000.00
   Yano,Junji	Research Associate	$39,622.00
   Ye,Shigong	Research Assistant Prof	$12,600.00
   Yeager,Scott Brand	Associate Professor	$40,420.00
   Yensen,Jack Anthony	Visiting Associate Prof	$25,000.00
   Yin,Jing-hua	Visiting Assistant Prof	$37,343.00
   Young Sr,Gerald Eugene	Custodian/Housekeeper	$18,158.40
   Young,Juliet	Collections Specialist I	$21,631.00
   Young,Mark Ralph	Farm Maint'ce Specialist	$28,414.00
   Young,Natalie R.	Secretary I	$15,510.00
   Young,Wendy Searles	Clinic Assistant	$23,802.00
   Youngberg,Sheri Lee	Staff Assistant I	$22,951.00
   Yu,Jun	Associate Professor	$52,962.00
   Yuan,Susan Jane	Research Assistant Prof	$39,677.00

   
   

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   [Dave] [Core Course] [COA]

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