This paper investigates social mobility in Bolivia and discusses its implications for poverty reduction and long-run growth. Regressions based on household survey data show that social mobility is very low in Bolivia, even by Latin American standards. This is mainly caused by an inadequate...

The Declaration of Independence states that all people are endowed with certain unalienable rights, and that among these is the pursuit of happiness. But is happiness available equally to everyone in America today? How about elsewhere in the world? Carol Graham draws on cutting edge research...

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Tables -- Preface -- 1 Introduction -- 2 What Happened to Horatio Alger? -- 3 Who Believes in the American Dream? -- 4 The High Costs of Being Poor in the Land of the Dream -- 5 Well-Being, Aspirations, and Outcomes -- 6 Can We Save the Dream? --...