Measuring Inequality of Opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean

RICARDO PAES DE BARROS holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Chicago and a Post PhD from the International Growth Center at Yale University, USA. Since 1979, he has been a researcher at the Instituto de Pesquisa Economica Aplicada (IPEA) where he has been conducting research on inequality, education, poverty, and labor markets in Brazil and Latin America. He has been a visiting professor at Yale University and a Director of Social Studies of IPEA. He has been awarded the Haralambos Simedionis and Mario Henrique Simonsen prizes, and admitted by the President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva into the Ordem Nacional do Merito Cientifico. FRANSISCO H. G. FERREIRA is a Lead Economist with the Development Research Group at the World Bank and has published widely on both theoretical and empirical issues related to inequality. Chico (as he is known) is a coeditor of the Journal of Economic Inequality and a former editor of Economia (the journal of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association--LACEA). He was a codirector of the team that wrote the World Development Report 2006, on equity and development. He holds a BSc (Economics), MSc, and PhD from the London School of Economics, UK, and was a professor of economics in Rio de Janeiro between 1999 and 2002. JAIME SAAVEDRA CHANDUVI is Manager for the Poverty and Gender Group, Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit, in the Latin America and the Caribbean Region of the World Bank. His major areas of interest include poverty reduction, labor markets, and social policies. He was Executive Director and Principal Researcher at Grupo de Analisis para el Desarollo (GRADE) in Lima, and a Principal Advisor to the Ministry of Labor and Social Promotion in Peru. He has been President of the Executive Committee of the Network on Inequity and Poverty of the IADB-World Bank-LACEA. He has been board member at LACEA, the Nutrition Research Institute, and the National Council of Labor in Peru. He has held a teaching position at Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru and Universidad del Pacifico in Peru, and has been a visiting researcher at the University of Toronto, Canada. Dr. Saavedra holds a PhD in economics from Columbia University. JOSAe R. MOLINAS VEGA is a Senior Economist with the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit in the Latin America and the Caribbean Region at the World Bank. His research interests include social capital, rural development, the political economy of social service delivery, economics of education, poverty analysis, and applied macroeconomics. He has been Academic Director of the Master's Program in Economics and professor of development economics and macroeconomics at the Catholic University of Asuncion. Before joining the World Bank, he was Director of Instituto Desarrollo in Asuncion. Jose holds a PhD in economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He has been a Visiting Fellow at the Kellogg Institute of the University of Notre Dame, USA.

Acknowledgments Executive Summary Introduction Inequality in Latin America Which Kind of Inequality Matters? Equality of Opportunities Why is This Relevant for Policy? Empirical Framework PART I: INEQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITIES: WHAT IT IS, HOW TO MEARSURE IT AND WHY IT MATTERS What is Inequality of Opportunity? How Can Inequality of Opportunity Be Measured? Why Should We Be Concerned With Inequality of Opportunity? What Does This Analysis Mean for Policy? PART II: INEQUALITY OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY IN SEVEN LATIN AMERICA The data Inequality of Opportunity for Earnings Inequality of Opportunity for Household Welfare The Opportunity Profile: Identifying the Least Advantaged Groups Summary PART III: INEQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY IN EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT IN FIVE LATIN AMERICA COUNTRIES The Data Inequality of Opportunity in Educational Achievements Is Inequality of Opportunity Larger in Latin American Countries Than in OECD Countries? An Opportunity Profile for Education Summary PART IV: MEARSURING INEQUALITY OF BASIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHILDREN Measuring Inequality of Basic Opportunities for Children Basic Opportunities in the Case of Children The Data, Selected Opportunities, and Circumstances National Estimates of Inequality of Opportunities among Children Children's Inequality of Opportunities Profiles Decomposing Changes in Inequality of Opportunity over Time Summary PART V: AN INDEX OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHILDREN From Inequality of Opportunity to an Opportunity Index for Children Empirical Results from 19 LAC Countries Children Educational Opportunities Children's Opportunities in Access to Water and Sanitation Children's Opportunities in Access to Electricity A Summary Index of Opportunities to Rank Countries The Opportunity Index and Economic Performance Summary and Conclusions