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Equality of Opportunity: Definitions and Testable Conditions with an Application to Income in France

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Author Info
Arnaud Lefranc () (THEMA, IDEP, UniversitŽ de Cergy-Pontoise)
Nicolas Pistolesi () (THEMA, UniversitŽ de Cergy-Pontoise)
Alain Trannoy () (EHESS, Greqam-Idep)

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Abstract

We offer a model of equality of opportunity that encompasses different conceptions expressed in the public and philosophical debates. In addition to circumstances whose effect on outcome should be compensated and effort which represents a legitimate source of inequality, we introduce a third factor, luck, that captures the non-responsibility factors whose impact on outcome should be even-handed for equality of opportunity to be satisfied. Then, we analyse how the various definitions of equality of opportunity can be empirically identified, given data limitations and provide testable conditions. Definitions and conditions resort to standard stochastic dominance tools. Lastly, we develop an empirical analysis of equality of opportunity for income acquisition in France over the period 1979-2000 which reveals that the degree of inequality of opportunity tends to decrease and that the degree of risk of income distributions, conditional on social origin, appears very similar across all groups of social origins.Classification-JEL:D63, J62, C14

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Paper provided by Institut d'economie publique (IDEP), Marseille, France in its series IDEP Working Papers with number 0609.

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Length: 51 pages
Date of creation: 27 Sep 2006
Date of revision: 27 Sep 2006
Handle: RePEc:iep:wpidep:0609

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Keywords: Equality of opportunity Income distribution Luck Stochastic dominance.

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  23. François Bourguignon & Francisco H. G. Ferreira & Marta Menendez, 2003. "Inequality of Outcomes and Inequality of Opportunities in Brasil," DELTA Working Papers 2003-24, DELTA (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
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  24. Ben-Porath, Elchanan & Gilboa, Itzhak & Schmeidler, David, 1997. "On the Measurement of Inequality under Uncertainty," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 194-204, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  26. Gabriela Schütz & Heinrich W. Ursprung & Ludger Woessmann, 2005. "Education Policy and Equality of Opportunity," IZA Discussion Papers 1906, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Jacques Silber & Olivier Giovannoni & Amedeo Spadaro, 2007. "Inequality of Life Chances and the Measurement of Social Immobility," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_513, Levy Economics Institute, The. [Downloadable!]
  2. Laura Serlenga & Vito Peragine, 2007. "Higher education and equality of opportunity in Italy," Working Papers 79, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality. [Downloadable!]
  3. Vito Peragine & Laura Serlenga, 2007. "Higher Education and Equality of Opportunity in Italy," IZA Discussion Papers 3163, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  4. Claudia Biancotti & Giovanni D'Alessio, 2007. "Inequality and Happiness," Working Papers 75, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality. [Downloadable!]
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