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Living with unfairness: The limits of equal opportunity in a market economy

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  • Robert Sugden

Abstract

Equality of opportunity is often presented as a criterion which reconciles egalitarianism with principles of freedom and responsibility. This paper distinguishes between the principle of ‘starting-line equality’, which requires that everyone’s initial opportunities, assessed in relation to what is publicly known ex ante, are equal, and the principle that equal efforts should yield equal ex post rewards. It argues that the first principle is compatible with allocation of resources through markets but, because of the division of knowledge, the second is not. If we want the opportunities which markets give us, we have to accept ex post unfairness. Copyright Springer-Verlag 2004

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Sugden, 2004. "Living with unfairness: The limits of equal opportunity in a market economy," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 22(1), pages 211-236, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sochwe:v:22:y:2004:i:1:p:211-236
    DOI: 10.1007/s00355-003-0283-1
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    Cited by:

    1. Sebastián Galiani, 2013. "Social Mobility: What is it and Why Does it Matter?," Económica, Departamento de Economía, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, vol. 59, pages 167-229, January-D.
    2. Schubert, Christian, 2015. "Opportunity And Preference Learning," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 31(2), pages 275-295, July.
    3. Björn Kauder & Luisa Lorenz & Niklas Potrafke, 2015. "Globalisation and Social Justice in OECD Countries," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 68(04), pages 21-26, February.
    4. Antonio Abatemarco, 2015. "A Gini approach to inequality of opportunity: evidence from the PSID," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 1497-1519, December.
    5. Sugden, Robert & Wang, Mengjie, 2020. "Equality of opportunity and the acceptability of outcome inequality," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).

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