The word "distributional" is a valid word in written English
It is used to describe the study or analysis of the way in which something is distributed, for example in terms of size, scale, or frequency. For example, you could say: "The distributional analysis of this data shows a wide variation in results."
To a great extent they focused on distributional issues and worried that distribution spelled serious trouble for the capitalist system.
However, if one had several sequences of measurements resulting in empirical frequency distributions F1,…, Fn, then the relative frequencies found in each of these empirical distributions can, according to Reichenbach, be used to get higher order distributional information about the original posit itself, and the posit therefore becomes appraised.
The chancellor also used his two-hour grilling about the spending review by the cross-party panel of MPs to reveal that he was seeking to draw up a "cutting edge" model to allow ministers to assess the distributional impact of changes to benefit and tax levels as well as to public expenditure.
The Treasury's distributional impact analysis published today still shows that the coalition's approach to deficit reduction is largely regressive.
The Resolution Foundation thinktank also declared "the distributional impact of these tax cuts is skewed towards the top half of the overall income distribution".
Conservative sources were defiant when challenged about the distributional impact of the plans saying they "are very happy to have the argument about whether people earning less than £50,000 should pay 40% tax".
He said calculating the distributional impact of the changes was "not a perfect science" but the government was trying to find some way of modelling the impact of changes to benefit and tax levels, and to public expenditure.
Twentieth-century economists lost interest in distributional issues amid the "Great Compression" that followed the second world war.
Among pundits, policy discussions have already begun to reflect this: the distributional effects of possible policy changes are beginning to be discussed in terms of how the policy might shift r or g (or s, the savings rate, or other key variables).And fourth, "Capital", by dint of its extraordinary success, has created a focal point for an important discussion.
Distributional effects also matter, although are often ignored on the assumption that any redistribution can happen through separate mechanisms.Land value taxation is so beloved of economists because, in theory, it does not distort decision making.
But is that so? Mr Clinton came into office knowing that he wanted to raise taxes, Mr Bush to cut them, and though both sides claimed they were doing it For the Good of The Economy, it seems to me that both were rather more related to the candidate's ideas about distributional justice and property rights than they were to some identifiable empirical need in the economy.
