Living Standard,Social Welfare,and the Redistribution of Income in a Heterogeneous Population

The paper considers the redistribution of income in a population of households which may differ by type. The redistribution is based on (differences in) living standard and a principle of between‐type‐progressive transfers (BTPT). We characterize the relationship between a social welfare ordering satisfying the BTPT principle and the concept of living standard the principle is based on. It turns out that there is a close link: The ordering of living standard can be derived from the social welfare ordering. Conversely, the class of welfare orderings fulfilling the BTPT principle for a given concept of living standard can be completely described.