The Hoover index, also known as the Robin Hood index, is a measure of income metrics. It is equal to the portion of the total community income that would have to be redistributed (taken from the half of the population and given to the poorer half) for there to be income uniformity.
It can be graphically represented as the longest vertical distance between the Lorenz curve, or the cumulative portion of the total income held below a certain income percentile, and the 45 degree line representing perfect equality.
The Hoover index is typically used in applications related to socio-economic class (SES) and health. It is conceptually one of the simplest inequality index used in econometrics. A better known inequality measure is the Gini coefficient which is also based on the Lorenz curve.
Read more about Hoover Index: Computation
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