[Math] The weighted mean results in smaller value than the simple mean.

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If weights attached to larger items are smaller and those attached to smaller items are larger, then the weighted mean results in smaller value than the simple mean.

My try: Let the weights be $w_1<w_2<\dots<w_n $ and let the items be $x_1>x_2>\dots>x_n$,

Weighted mean: $$\frac{\sum_{i=1}^nw_ix_i}{\sum_{i=1}^nw_i}$$ and mean :$$\frac{\sum_{i=1}^nx_i}{n}.$$ How to show that $$\frac{\sum_{i=1}^nw_ix_i}{\sum_{i=1}^nw_i}<\frac{\sum_{i=1}^nx_i}{n}?$$

Best Answer

Ok. I'm posting two answers because one is very general, and the other (this one) only works nicely when the weights are positive - but I wrote this one first because I thought of it first.

Assume the weights are non-negative.

Notice that if I multiply all the weights by a fixed positive number $k$, then

$$ \frac{\sum_{i=1}^nkw_ix_i}{\sum_{i=1}^nkw_i} = \frac{k\sum_{i=1}^nw_ix_i}{k\sum_{i=1}^nw_i} = \frac{\sum_{i=1}^nw_ix_i}{\sum_{i=1}^nw_i},$$

which is to say that it doesn't change anything. It also doesn't affect the order. So let us assume that we have multiplied by the correct $k$ so that $\sum_i w_i = n$.

Notice also that if I add some constant $M$ to each $x_i$, then we have both

$$\frac{\sum_{i=1}^nw_i(x_i+M)}{\sum_{i=1}^nw_i} = \frac{\sum_{i=1}^nw_ix_i}{\sum_{i=1}^nw_i} + \frac{\sum_{i=1}^nw_iM}{\sum_{i=1}^nw_i} = \frac{\sum_{i=1}^nw_ix_i}{\sum_{i=1}^nw_i} + M,$$ and $$\frac{\sum_{i=1}^n(x_i+M)}{n} = \frac{\sum_{i=1}^nx_i}{n} + M,$$ so that the difference between the weighted mean and the arithmetic mean is the same. So we can assume that all the $x_i$ are positive.

Then

$$ \frac{\sum_{i=1}^nw_ix_i}{\sum_{i=1}^nw_i} = \frac{\sum_{i=1}^nw_ix_i}{n} < \frac{\sum_{i=1}^nw_1x_i}{\sum_{i=1}^nw_i} = \frac{w_1\sum_{i=1}^nx_i}{n},$$

and since the weights are positive, $w_1 < 1$. (If $w_1 = 1$ and the other weights are all $0$, then $x_1 + 0 + 0 + \ldots < x_1 + x_2 + \ldots$, so only the strictly positive case is interesting).

So we conclude that

$$ \frac{\sum_{i=1}^nw_ix_i}{\sum_{i=1}^nw_i} < \frac{\sum_{i=1}^nx_i}{n}.$$

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