Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/245731 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 14680
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Equality of opportunity is an important normative ideal of distributive justice. In spite of its wide acceptance and economic relevance, standard estimation approaches suffer from data limitations that can lead to both downward and upward biased estimates of inequality of opportunity. These shortcomings may be particularly pronounced for emerging economies in which comprehensive household survey data of sufficient sample size is often unavailable. In this paper, we assess the extent of upward and downward bias in inequality of opportunity estimates for a set of twelve emerging economies. Our findings suggest strongly downward biased estimates of inequality of opportunity in these countries. To the contrary, there is little scope for upward bias. By bounding inequality of opportunity from above, we address recent critiques that worry about the prevalence of downward biased estimates and the ensuing possibility to downplay the normative significance of inequality.
Subjects: 
equality of opportunity
inequality
emerging economies
JEL: 
D31
D63
I32
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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