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Equality of Opportunity for Well-Being

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  • Mahler, Daniel Gerszon

    (World Bank)

  • Ramos, Xavier

    (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

Abstract

A growing literature has tried to measure the extent to which individuals have equal opportunities to acquire income. At the same time, policy makers have doubled down on efforts to go beyond income when measuring well-being. We attempt to bridge these two areas by measuring the extent to which individuals have equal opportunities to achieve a high level of well-being. We use the German Socio-Economic Panel to measure well-being in four different ways including incomes. This makes it possible to determine if the way well-being is measured matters for identifying who the opportunity-deprived are and for tracking inequality of opportunity over time. We find that, regardless of how well-being is measured, the same people are opportunity-deprived and equality of opportunity has improved over the past 20 years. This suggests that going beyond income has little relevance if the objective is to provide equal opportunities.

Suggested Citation

  • Mahler, Daniel Gerszon & Ramos, Xavier, 2017. "Equality of Opportunity for Well-Being," IZA Discussion Papers 10940, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10940
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    7. Caterina Calsamiglia, 2009. "Decentralizing Equality Of Opportunity," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 50(1), pages 273-290, February.
    8. G.A. Cohen, 1990. "Equality of What? On Welfare, Goods and Capabilities," Discussion Papers (REL - Recherches Economiques de Louvain) 1990035, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
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    Cited by:

    1. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Dahmann, Sarah C. & Salamanca, Nicolás & Zhu, Anna, 2022. "Intergenerational disadvantage: Learning about equal opportunity from social assistance receipt," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    2. Ambaw Desalegn & Nigussie Solomon, 2022. "The Interrelationship among Institutional Capacity, Infrastructure Governance and Equity, and Nation-Building Process in Ethiopia," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 627-647, September.
    3. Jaya Krishnakumar & Ricardo Nogales, 2020. "Public Policies and Equality of Opportunity for Wellbeing in Multiple Dimensions: A Theoretical Discussion and Evidence from Bolivia," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 149(1), pages 297-325, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    responsibility; measurement; equality of opportunity; effort; well-being;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D3 - Microeconomics - - Distribution
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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