ESTIMATION OF INCOME DISTRIBUTION AND DETECTION OF SUBPOPULATIONS: AN EXPLANATORY MODEL

Inequality and polarization analyses are complementary but conceptually different. They are usually implemented independently in practic e, with different a priori assumptions and different tools. In this paper, we develop a unique method to study simultaneously these different and complementary concerns. Based on mixture models, the method we develop includes at the same time : an estimation of income distribution with no a priori assumptions - a decomposition in several homogeneous subpopulations - an explanatory model to study the structure of the income distribution.