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Upper and lower bound estimates of inequality of opportunity: A cross-national comparison for Europe

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  • Rafael Carranza

    (London School of Economics)

Abstract

I provide lower and upper bound estimates of inequality of opportunity (IOp) for 24 European countries, between 2005 and 2011. Previous estimates of IOp are lower bounds of its true level and provide a partial view of the importance of involuntarily inherited factors. Upper bound estimates of IOp are much larger than their corresponding lower bound estimates. While the lower bound estimates of IOp account for up to 31\% of total inequality, the upper bound estimates account for up to 90.5\%, suggesting that IOp can be as high as total inequality of outcomes. Indeed, inequality of outcomes has a higher correlation with the upper bound estimates of IOp than with the lower bound estimates, both cross sectionally and over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Rafael Carranza, 2020. "Upper and lower bound estimates of inequality of opportunity: A cross-national comparison for Europe," Working Papers 511, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    • Handle: RePEc:inq:inqwps:ecineq2020-511
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    Cited by:

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    2. Davalos, Maria & Monroy Barragan, Juan Manuel, 2025. "Where You Are Born Matters : Inequality of Opportunities and Intergenerational Mobility across Colombia’s Territory," Policy Research Working Paper Series 11126, The World Bank.
    3. Rafael Carranza, 2020. "Inequality of Outcomes, Inequality of Opportunity, and Economic Growth," Working Papers 534, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    4. Paolo Brunori & Paul Hufe & Daniel Mahler, 2023. "The roots of inequality: estimating inequality of opportunity from regression trees and forests," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 125(4), pages 900-932, October.
    5. Bavaro, Michele & Carranza, Rafael & Nolan, Brian, 2025. "Parents' Education and Children's Household Income Across Cohorts in Europe," INET Oxford Working Papers 2025-13, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.
    6. Colcerasa, Francesco & Giammei, Lorenzo & Subioli, Francesca, 2025. "The Network of Injustice: A Novel Approach to Inequality of Opportunity," SocArXiv zutbq_v1, Center for Open Science.
    7. Brunori, Paolo & Hufe, Paul & Mahler, Daniel, 2023. "The roots of inequality: estimating inequality of opportunity from regression trees and forests," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118220, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Jenkins, Stephen P., 2022. "Getting the Measure of Inequality," IZA Discussion Papers 14996, IZA Network @ LISER.
    9. Brunori, Paolo & Hufe, Paul & Mahler, Daniel Gerszon, 2021. "The Roots of Inequality: Estimating Inequality of Opportunity from Regression Trees and Forests," IZA Discussion Papers 14689, IZA Network @ LISER.
    10. Luís Clemente-Casinhas & Luís Filipe Martins & Alexandra Ferreira-Lopes, 2025. "Using Survey Data to Estimate Intergenerational Mobility in Income and Education in Portugal," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 176(1), pages 51-106, January.
    11. Fabio Farella, 2025. "Equality of Opportunity and Efficiency in Tertiary Education: a Data-Driven Perspective," SERIES 02-2025, Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza - Università degli Studi di Bari "Aldo Moro", revised May 2025.
    12. Dai, Xinchen & Li, Jing, 2021. "Inequality of opportunity in China: Evidence from pseudo panel data," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).

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    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement

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