Inequality of Opportunity: Theory and Measurement (Research on Economic Inequality, 19) - Hardcover

Juan Gabriel Rodriguez

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1780520344 ISBN 13: 9781780520346

Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited, 2011

Synopsis

This volume contains both theoretical and applied on the concept of equality of opportunity which says that a society should guarantee its members equal access to advantage regardless of their circumstances, while holding them responsible for turning that access into actual advantage by the application of effort. Theoretical papers discuss to what extent some of the measures of inequality of opportunity meet the reward and the compensation principles, a new methodology for evaluating long-term income distributions, the implications of partial observability of individuals' circumstances on the measurement of inequality of opportunity and the advantages of applying segregation indices to study inequality in life chances. The applied work investigates how governments affect inequality of opportunity through the design of their tax and transfer schemes in 15 European countries, the changing role of circumstances for measuring inequality of opportunity in Chile, the existence of a poverty trap in Haiti and its consequences for equality of opportunity, and the correlation between circumstances and effort in the measurement of inequality of opportunity in U.S. during the period 1969-2007.

About this title

About the Author:

Juan Gabriel Rodriguez - Macquarie Graduate School of Management, NSW, Australia

Review:

Rodríguez (U. Complutense de Madrid, Spain) presents nine papers from a workshop on 'Inequality of Opportunities' organized by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative around a concept of equality of opportunity 'which says that a society should guarantee its members equal access to advantage regardless of their circumstances, while holding them responsible for turning that access into actual advantage by the application of effort.' Papers address the extent to which different measures of inequality of opportunity conform to the above principle, a new methodology for evaluating long-term income distributions according to the principle, the impact on inequality of opportunity in the design of tax and transfer schemes in 17 European countries, equality of opportunity for earnings acquisition in France between 1973 and 1993, vulnerability to poverty in Haiti, and inequality of opportunity in the United States between 1969 and 2007. Distributed in North America by Turpin Distribution. --Book News Inc. Portland, OR

About this edition

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1780520344
• ISBN 13: 9781780520346
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 250
• Editor: Juan Gabriel Rodriguez