A dissimilarity index of multidimensional inequality of opportunity

Gaston Yalonetzky

The Journal of Economic Inequality, 2012, vol. 10, issue 3, 343-373

Abstract: A recent literature on inequality of opportunity offers quantitative tools for comparisons and measurement based on stochastic dominance criteria and traditional inequality indices. In this paper I suggest an additional way of assessing inequality of opportunity with two indices of dissimilarity across distributions. The indices are based on a traditional homogeneity test of multinomial distributions and are similar to the square coefficient of variation (Reardon and Firebaugh, Sociol Method 32:33–67, 2002 ). Their properties are studied, as well as their usefulness and limitations in applications when both circumstances and advantages/outcomes are multidimensional. An empirical application measures changes in inequality of opportunity from an old to a young cohort in Peru. The importance of assessing the sensitivity of the results to group definitions and group proportions is highlighted. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. 2012

Keywords: Inequality of opportunity; Dissimilarity index (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

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Working Paper: A Dissimilarity Index of Multidimensional Inequality of Opportunity (2009)
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DOI: 10.1007/s10888-010-9162-z

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