This paper proposes a measure of the contribution of unequal opportunities to earnings inequality. Drawing on the distinction between ‘circumstance’ and ‘effort’ variables in John Roemer’s work on equality of opportunity, we associate inequality of opportunities with five observed...

This note acknowledges and corrects a programming error in our paper “Inequality of Opportunity in Brazil” (Review of Income and Wealth, 53(4), 585–618, 2007). Once the error is corrected, our bounds approach to the identification of individual model parameters in the presence of omitted...

This paper proposes a measure of the contribution of unequal opportunities to earnings inequality. Drawing on the distinction between "circumstance" and "effort" variables in John Roemer's work on equality of opportunity, we associate inequality of opportunities with five observed circumstances...

This is a background note to a joint IPEA/World Bank Report, provisionally entitled "Selected Topics on Income Inequality in Brazil", with publication planned for 2001. The purpose of the note is twofold. First we propose four central questions which the Report should seek to address, and around...

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...

Após rever brevemente algumas experiências inovadoras em política social na América Latina, o presente trabalho propõe uma reforma dos instrumentos de política social no Brasil. A reforma baseia-se na criação de um benefício social único, de natureza focalizada e condicional, ao qual...

Despite tremendous macroeconomic instability, Brazil’s urban income distributions in 1976 and 1996 appear, at first glance, deceptively similar. Mean household income per capita was stagnant, with a minute accumulated growth of 4.3% over the two decades. The Gini coefficient hovered just above...

This paper combines two complementary data sets to present a disaggregated spatial profile of poverty in the Brazilian Northeast, and to investigate the importance of non-agricultural activities for its rural dwellers. We present both univariate and multivariate profiles of non-agricultural...

This paper provides an overview of both the current structure of poverty in Brazil through a detailed poverty profile and of the aggregate dynamics of poverty in the last two decades. We then assess a number of government policies and programs which are either specifically designed to reduce...