Inequality of Outcomes and Inequality of Opportunities in Brazil

François J. Bourguignon, Francisco H. G. Ferreira () and Marta Menendez

William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series from William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross Business School

Abstract: This paper departs from John Roemer's theory of equality of opportunities. We seek to determine what part of observed outcome inequality may be attributed to differences in observed 'circumstances', including family background, and what part is due to 'personal efforts'. We use a micro-econometric technique to simulate what the distribution of outcomes would look like if 'circumstances' were the same for everybody. This technique is applied to Brazilian data from the 1996 household survey, both for earnings and for household incomes. It is shown that observed circumstances are a major source of outcome inequality in Brazil, probably more so than in other countries for which information is available. Nevertheless, the level of inequality after observed circumstances are equalized remains very high in Brazil.

Keywords: Inequality of Opportunities; Intergenerational Educational Mobility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 D63 J62 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab
Date: 2003-11-01
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Related works:
Working Paper: Inequality of Outcomes and Inequality of Opportunities in Brasil (2003)
Working Paper: Inequality of outcomes and inequality of opportunities in Brazil (2003)
Working Paper: Inequality of outcomes and inequality of opportunities in Brazil (2003)
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wdi:papers:2003-630

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