The Measurement of Inequality of Opportunity : Theory and an Application to Latin America

What part of the inequality observed in a particular country is due to unequal opportunities, rather than to differences in individual efforts or luck? This paper estimates a lower bound for the opportunity share of inequality in labor earnings, ho...

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Main Authors:	Ferreira, Francisco H.G., Gignoux, Jérémie
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2012
Subjects:	AGRICULTURAL WORKERS BETWEEN-GROUP INEQUALITY CENTRAL AMERICA CENTRAL AMERICAN CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURES CONSUMPTION INEQUALITY COUNTERFACTUAL DATA SET DATA SETS DECOMPOSABLE INEQUALITY MEASURES DECOMPOSITION OF INEQUALITY DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DISADVANTAGED GROUPS DISCRIMINATION DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS DISTRIBUTION OF OPPORTUNITIES DISTRIBUTION OF OUTCOMES DISTRIBUTION OF WELFARE EARNINGS EARNINGS INEQUALITY ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC INEQUALITY ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE ECONOMIC REVIEW ECONOMIC SUCCESS ECONOMIC THEORY ECONOMIES OF SCALE EDUCATION LEVELS EMPIRICAL ESTIMATES EMPIRICAL LITERATURE EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY ETHNIC GROUPS ETHNIC MINORITIES ETHNIC MINORITY EXPENDITURE FAMILIES FAMILY INCOMES FINANCIAL MARKETS FUNCTIONAL FORM GENDER GINI COEFFICIENT GROUP INEQUALITIES GROUPS OF PEOPLE HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION PER CAPITA HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD HEAD HOUSEHOLD HEADS HOUSEHOLD INCOME HOUSEHOLD INCOMES HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS HOUSEHOLD PER CAPITA INCOME HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SURVEY DATA HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HOUSEHOLD WELFARE HOUSEHOLDS INCOME DATA INCOME DIFFERENCES INCOME DISTRIBUTION INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS INCOME INEQUALITY INCOME SHARE INCOME SHARES INCOMES INDICES OF INEQUALITY INDIVIDUAL COUNTRIES INDIVIDUAL INCOMES INEQUALITY INEQUALITY AVERSION INEQUALITY AVERSION PARAMETER INEQUALITY DECOMPOSITION INEQUALITY IN EARNINGS INEQUALITY INDEX INEQUALITY MEASURE INEQUALITY MEASUREMENT INEQUALITY MEASURES INEQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITIES INEQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY INEQUALITY TRAPS INTERGENERATIONAL MOBILITY INTERNATIONAL BANK INTERNATIONAL COMPARABILITY LABOR FORCE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION LABOR MARKET LATIN AMERICAN LEVELS OF INEQUALITY MEAN INCOME MEAN LOG DEVIATION MEASURE OF INEQUALITY MEASUREMENT ERROR MEASURES OF INEQUALITY MEASURING INEQUALITY MULTIPLE EQUILIBRIA NATIONAL SURVEYS OVERALL INEQUALITY PATH DEPENDENCE PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION PER CAPITA INCOME POLICY RESEARCH POOR POPULATION SHARE POPULATION SUBGROUP POSITIVE EFFECT POVERTY LINE POVERTY OUTCOMES POVERTY PROFILE PRIMARY EDUCATION PUBLIC EDUCATION PUBLIC EXPENDITURES PUBLIC POLICY RELATIVE IMPORTANCE RESIDUAL TERM RURAL RURAL AREA RURAL AREAS SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES SOCIAL MOBILITY TAXATION TOTAL INEQUALITY UNEQUAL ACCESS UNEQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/07/9631175/measurement-inequality-opportunity-theory-application-latin-america http://hdl.handle.net/10986/6859

id	okr-10986-6859
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-68592021-04-23T14:02:32Z The Measurement of Inequality of Opportunity : Theory and an Application to Latin America Ferreira, Francisco H.G. Gignoux, Jérémie AGRICULTURAL WORKERS BETWEEN-GROUP INEQUALITY CENTRAL AMERICA CENTRAL AMERICAN CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURES CONSUMPTION INEQUALITY COUNTERFACTUAL DATA SET DATA SETS DECOMPOSABLE INEQUALITY MEASURES DECOMPOSITION OF INEQUALITY DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DISADVANTAGED GROUPS DISCRIMINATION DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS DISTRIBUTION OF OPPORTUNITIES DISTRIBUTION OF OUTCOMES DISTRIBUTION OF WELFARE EARNINGS EARNINGS INEQUALITY ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC INEQUALITY ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE ECONOMIC REVIEW ECONOMIC SUCCESS ECONOMIC THEORY ECONOMIES OF SCALE EDUCATION LEVELS EMPIRICAL ESTIMATES EMPIRICAL LITERATURE EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY ETHNIC GROUPS ETHNIC MINORITIES ETHNIC MINORITY EXPENDITURE FAMILIES FAMILY INCOMES FINANCIAL MARKETS FUNCTIONAL FORM GENDER GINI COEFFICIENT GROUP INEQUALITIES GROUPS OF PEOPLE HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION PER CAPITA HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD HEAD HOUSEHOLD HEADS HOUSEHOLD INCOME HOUSEHOLD INCOMES HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS HOUSEHOLD PER CAPITA INCOME HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SURVEY DATA HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HOUSEHOLD WELFARE HOUSEHOLDS INCOME DATA INCOME DIFFERENCES INCOME DISTRIBUTION INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS INCOME INEQUALITY INCOME SHARE INCOME SHARES INCOMES INDICES OF INEQUALITY INDIVIDUAL COUNTRIES INDIVIDUAL INCOMES INEQUALITY INEQUALITY AVERSION INEQUALITY AVERSION PARAMETER INEQUALITY DECOMPOSITION INEQUALITY IN EARNINGS INEQUALITY INDEX INEQUALITY MEASURE INEQUALITY MEASUREMENT INEQUALITY MEASURES INEQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITIES INEQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY INEQUALITY TRAPS INTERGENERATIONAL MOBILITY INTERNATIONAL BANK INTERNATIONAL COMPARABILITY LABOR FORCE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION LABOR MARKET LATIN AMERICAN LEVELS OF INEQUALITY MEAN INCOME MEAN LOG DEVIATION MEASURE OF INEQUALITY MEASUREMENT ERROR MEASURES OF INEQUALITY MEASURING INEQUALITY MULTIPLE EQUILIBRIA NATIONAL SURVEYS OVERALL INEQUALITY PATH DEPENDENCE PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION PER CAPITA INCOME POLICY RESEARCH POOR POPULATION SHARE POPULATION SUBGROUP POSITIVE EFFECT POVERTY LINE POVERTY OUTCOMES POVERTY PROFILE PRIMARY EDUCATION PUBLIC EDUCATION PUBLIC EXPENDITURES PUBLIC POLICY RELATIVE IMPORTANCE RESIDUAL TERM RURAL RURAL AREA RURAL AREAS SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES SOCIAL MOBILITY TAXATION TOTAL INEQUALITY UNEQUAL ACCESS UNEQUAL OPPORTUNITIES What part of the inequality observed in a particular country is due to unequal opportunities, rather than to differences in individual efforts or luck? This paper estimates a lower bound for the opportunity share of inequality in labor earnings, household income per capita and household consumption per capita in six Latin American countries. Following John Roemer, the authors associate inequality of opportunity with outcome differences that can be accounted for by morally irrelevant pre-determined circumstances, such as race, gender, place of birth, and family background. Thus defined, unequal opportunities account for between 24 and 50 percent of inequality in consumption expenditure in the sample. Brazil and Central America are more opportunity-unequal than Colombia, Ecuador, or Peru. "Opportunity profiles," which identify the social groups with the most limited opportunity sets, are shown to be distinct from poverty profiles: ethnic origin and the geography of birth are markedly more important as determinants of opportunity deprivation than of outcome poverty, particularly in Brazil, Guatemala, and Peru. 2012-06-01T15:35:20Z 2012-06-01T15:35:20Z 2008-07 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/07/9631175/measurement-inequality-opportunity-theory-application-latin-america http://hdl.handle.net/10986/6859 English Policy Research Working Paper No. 4659 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English
topic	AGRICULTURAL WORKERS BETWEEN-GROUP INEQUALITY CENTRAL AMERICA CENTRAL AMERICAN CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURES CONSUMPTION INEQUALITY COUNTERFACTUAL DATA SET DATA SETS DECOMPOSABLE INEQUALITY MEASURES DECOMPOSITION OF INEQUALITY DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DISADVANTAGED GROUPS DISCRIMINATION DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS DISTRIBUTION OF OPPORTUNITIES DISTRIBUTION OF OUTCOMES DISTRIBUTION OF WELFARE EARNINGS EARNINGS INEQUALITY ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC INEQUALITY ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE ECONOMIC REVIEW ECONOMIC SUCCESS ECONOMIC THEORY ECONOMIES OF SCALE EDUCATION LEVELS EMPIRICAL ESTIMATES EMPIRICAL LITERATURE EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY ETHNIC GROUPS ETHNIC MINORITIES ETHNIC MINORITY EXPENDITURE FAMILIES FAMILY INCOMES FINANCIAL MARKETS FUNCTIONAL FORM GENDER GINI COEFFICIENT GROUP INEQUALITIES GROUPS OF PEOPLE HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION PER CAPITA HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD HEAD HOUSEHOLD HEADS HOUSEHOLD INCOME HOUSEHOLD INCOMES HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS HOUSEHOLD PER CAPITA INCOME HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SURVEY DATA HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HOUSEHOLD WELFARE HOUSEHOLDS INCOME DATA INCOME DIFFERENCES INCOME DISTRIBUTION INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS INCOME INEQUALITY INCOME SHARE INCOME SHARES INCOMES INDICES OF INEQUALITY INDIVIDUAL COUNTRIES INDIVIDUAL INCOMES INEQUALITY INEQUALITY AVERSION INEQUALITY AVERSION PARAMETER INEQUALITY DECOMPOSITION INEQUALITY IN EARNINGS INEQUALITY INDEX INEQUALITY MEASURE INEQUALITY MEASUREMENT INEQUALITY MEASURES INEQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITIES INEQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY INEQUALITY TRAPS INTERGENERATIONAL MOBILITY INTERNATIONAL BANK INTERNATIONAL COMPARABILITY LABOR FORCE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION LABOR MARKET LATIN AMERICAN LEVELS OF INEQUALITY MEAN INCOME MEAN LOG DEVIATION MEASURE OF INEQUALITY MEASUREMENT ERROR MEASURES OF INEQUALITY MEASURING INEQUALITY MULTIPLE EQUILIBRIA NATIONAL SURVEYS OVERALL INEQUALITY PATH DEPENDENCE PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION PER CAPITA INCOME POLICY RESEARCH POOR POPULATION SHARE POPULATION SUBGROUP POSITIVE EFFECT POVERTY LINE POVERTY OUTCOMES POVERTY PROFILE PRIMARY EDUCATION PUBLIC EDUCATION PUBLIC EXPENDITURES PUBLIC POLICY RELATIVE IMPORTANCE RESIDUAL TERM RURAL RURAL AREA RURAL AREAS SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES SOCIAL MOBILITY TAXATION TOTAL INEQUALITY UNEQUAL ACCESS UNEQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
spellingShingle	AGRICULTURAL WORKERS BETWEEN-GROUP INEQUALITY CENTRAL AMERICA CENTRAL AMERICAN CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURES CONSUMPTION INEQUALITY COUNTERFACTUAL DATA SET DATA SETS DECOMPOSABLE INEQUALITY MEASURES DECOMPOSITION OF INEQUALITY DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DISADVANTAGED GROUPS DISCRIMINATION DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS DISTRIBUTION OF OPPORTUNITIES DISTRIBUTION OF OUTCOMES DISTRIBUTION OF WELFARE EARNINGS EARNINGS INEQUALITY ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC INEQUALITY ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE ECONOMIC REVIEW ECONOMIC SUCCESS ECONOMIC THEORY ECONOMIES OF SCALE EDUCATION LEVELS EMPIRICAL ESTIMATES EMPIRICAL LITERATURE EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY ETHNIC GROUPS ETHNIC MINORITIES ETHNIC MINORITY EXPENDITURE FAMILIES FAMILY INCOMES FINANCIAL MARKETS FUNCTIONAL FORM GENDER GINI COEFFICIENT GROUP INEQUALITIES GROUPS OF PEOPLE HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION PER CAPITA HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD HEAD HOUSEHOLD HEADS HOUSEHOLD INCOME HOUSEHOLD INCOMES HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS HOUSEHOLD PER CAPITA INCOME HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SURVEY DATA HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HOUSEHOLD WELFARE HOUSEHOLDS INCOME DATA INCOME DIFFERENCES INCOME DISTRIBUTION INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS INCOME INEQUALITY INCOME SHARE INCOME SHARES INCOMES INDICES OF INEQUALITY INDIVIDUAL COUNTRIES INDIVIDUAL INCOMES INEQUALITY INEQUALITY AVERSION INEQUALITY AVERSION PARAMETER INEQUALITY DECOMPOSITION INEQUALITY IN EARNINGS INEQUALITY INDEX INEQUALITY MEASURE INEQUALITY MEASUREMENT INEQUALITY MEASURES INEQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITIES INEQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY INEQUALITY TRAPS INTERGENERATIONAL MOBILITY INTERNATIONAL BANK INTERNATIONAL COMPARABILITY LABOR FORCE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION LABOR MARKET LATIN AMERICAN LEVELS OF INEQUALITY MEAN INCOME MEAN LOG DEVIATION MEASURE OF INEQUALITY MEASUREMENT ERROR MEASURES OF INEQUALITY MEASURING INEQUALITY MULTIPLE EQUILIBRIA NATIONAL SURVEYS OVERALL INEQUALITY PATH DEPENDENCE PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION PER CAPITA INCOME POLICY RESEARCH POOR POPULATION SHARE POPULATION SUBGROUP POSITIVE EFFECT POVERTY LINE POVERTY OUTCOMES POVERTY PROFILE PRIMARY EDUCATION PUBLIC EDUCATION PUBLIC EXPENDITURES PUBLIC POLICY RELATIVE IMPORTANCE RESIDUAL TERM RURAL RURAL AREA RURAL AREAS SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES SOCIAL MOBILITY TAXATION TOTAL INEQUALITY UNEQUAL ACCESS UNEQUAL OPPORTUNITIES Ferreira, Francisco H.G. Gignoux, Jérémie The Measurement of Inequality of Opportunity : Theory and an Application to Latin America
relation	Policy Research Working Paper No. 4659
description	What part of the inequality observed in a particular country is due to unequal opportunities, rather than to differences in individual efforts or luck? This paper estimates a lower bound for the opportunity share of inequality in labor earnings, household income per capita and household consumption per capita in six Latin American countries. Following John Roemer, the authors associate inequality of opportunity with outcome differences that can be accounted for by morally irrelevant pre-determined circumstances, such as race, gender, place of birth, and family background. Thus defined, unequal opportunities account for between 24 and 50 percent of inequality in consumption expenditure in the sample. Brazil and Central America are more opportunity-unequal than Colombia, Ecuador, or Peru. "Opportunity profiles," which identify the social groups with the most limited opportunity sets, are shown to be distinct from poverty profiles: ethnic origin and the geography of birth are markedly more important as determinants of opportunity deprivation than of outcome poverty, particularly in Brazil, Guatemala, and Peru.
format	Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper
author	Ferreira, Francisco H.G. Gignoux, Jérémie
author_facet	Ferreira, Francisco H.G. Gignoux, Jérémie
author_sort	Ferreira, Francisco H.G.
title	The Measurement of Inequality of Opportunity : Theory and an Application to Latin America
title_short	The Measurement of Inequality of Opportunity : Theory and an Application to Latin America
title_full	The Measurement of Inequality of Opportunity : Theory and an Application to Latin America
title_fullStr	The Measurement of Inequality of Opportunity : Theory and an Application to Latin America
title_full_unstemmed	The Measurement of Inequality of Opportunity : Theory and an Application to Latin America
title_sort	measurement of inequality of opportunity : theory and an application to latin america
publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate	2012
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/07/9631175/measurement-inequality-opportunity-theory-application-latin-america http://hdl.handle.net/10986/6859
_version_	1764400994331918336

The Measurement of Inequality of Opportunity : Theory and an Application to Latin America

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