The Distribution and Redistribution of Opportunity

Vito Peragine

Journal of Economic Surveys, 1999, vol. 13, issue 1, 37-70

Abstract: Recent theories of distributive justice focus on individual opportunities as the appropriate standard for distributive judgements. To translate this philosophical view into concrete public policy, three branches of economic literature have arisen, which we draw together here and critically assess. These concern (i) the measurement of individuals’ opportunity sets, (ii) the measurement of the degree of inequality present in a distribution of opportunities, and (iii) the design of redistribution mechanisms intended to increase the degree of ‘opportunity equality’. The purpose of the exposition is to unify the three themes, to give a flavour in non‐technical terms of what is going on in these very active literatures, and to indicate areas which remain open for research.

Date: 1999
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