Robin Hood index
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The Robin Hood index, also known as Hoover index, is a measure of income inequality. It is equal to the portion of the total community income that would have to be redistributed (taken from the richer half of the population and given to the poorer half) for there to be perfect equality.
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 Robin Hood index is typically used in applications related to socio-economic class (SES) and health. The Gini coefficient is a better-known measure of economic inequality based on the Lorenz curve, but the Robin Hood index is conceptually a little bit simpler. It's cited by Robert Sapolsky in his Scientific American article "Sick of Poverty" (december 2005).
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