substantial contributions to the empirical literature on this subject, thereby often drawing on the
accumulated knowledge in the field of income inequality measurement. Le Grand (1989) and Le
Grand and Rabin (1986) have proposed the use of the Gini coefficient for the measurement of pure
inequality in mortality.Wagstaff et al. (1989) have proposed the use of the concentration index for
the measurement of relative socioeconomic inequality in health and health care. More recently,
van Doorslaer and Jones (2003) and Wagstaff and van Doorslaer (2004) have drawn attention to
the simple relationship between both types of rank-dependent health inequality measures, while
Koolman and van Doorslaer (2004) have illustrated the redistribution interpretation of the concentration
index.Wagstaff et al. (2003) have shown how the concentration index can be decomposed
by sources, and Clarke et al. (2003) have illustrated its decomposition by components. Clarke
et al. (2002) have shown that inequality comparisons based on absolute and relative inequality
measures need not coincide. Finally, building on results obtained by Yitzhaki (1983) and Lerman
andYitzhaki (1984),Wagstaff (2002) has made the implicit weighting of individuals’ health states
in the concentration index more explicit, and has proposed the use of a so-called achievement
index to simultaneously embody concerns about the mean and the degree of inequality of a health
distribution.