Measuring Inequality of Opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean

Over the past decade, faster growth and smarter social policy have reversed the trend in Latin America's poverty. Too slowly and insufficiently, but undeniably, the percentage of Latinos who are poor has at long last begun to fall. This has shifted the political and policy debates from poverty toward inequality, something to be expected in a region that exhibits the world's most regressive distribution of development outcomes such as income, land ownership, and educational achievement. This book is a breakthrough in the measurement of human opportunity. It builds sophisticated formulas to answer a rather simple question: how much influence do personal circumstances have on the access that children get to the basic services that are necessary for a productive life? Needless to say, producing a methodology to measure human opportunity, and applying it across countries in one region, is just a first step. On the one hand, technical discussions and scientific vetting will continue, and refinements will surely follow. On the other, applying the new tool to a single country will allow for adjustments that make the findings much more useful to its policy realities. And fascinating comparative lessons could be learned by measuring human opportunity in developed countries across, say, the states of the United States or the nations of Europe. But the main message this book delivers remains a powerful one: it is possible to make equity a central purpose, if not the very definition, of development. That is, perhaps, it's most important contribution.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Paes de Barros, Ricardo, Ferreira, Francisco H.G., Molinas Vega, Jose R., Saavedra Chanduvi, Jaime
Format:	Publications & Research biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	Washington, DC: World Bank 2009
Subjects:	ABSTINENCE, ACCESS TO EDUCATION, ACCESS TO FINANCE, ADOLESCENTS, AGRICULTURAL WORKERS, ANTIDISCRIMINATION, ASSESSMENT OF INEQUALITY, AVERAGE CHANGE, AVERAGE GROWTH, BASIC EDUCATION, BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE, CALORIC INTAKE, CAPITAL MARKETS, CHANGES IN INEQUALITY, CITIZENS, CLEAN WATER, COMPUTER ACCESS, CONFLICT, CONSUMPTION INEQUALITY, DATA SETS, DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, DEVELOPMENT BANK, DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS, DEVELOPMENT OUTCOMES, DISADVANTAGED GROUP, DISCRIMINATION, DISSEMINATION, DISTRIBUTION OF OUTCOMES, DISTRIBUTIONS OF INCOME, EARNINGS, EARNINGS INEQUALITY, ECONOMIC INEQUALITY, ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, ECONOMIC STUDIES, ECONOMIC SUCCESS, ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED GROUPS, EDUCATED MOTHERS, EDUCATION LEVELS, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES, EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY, EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS, ENROLLMENT, EQUAL ACCESS, EQUAL DISTRIBUTION, EQUAL OPPORTUNITY, EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITIES, EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY, EQUITABLE ACCESS, ETHNIC MINORITIES, ETHNIC MINORITY, EXPLAINING INEQUALITY, FAMILY RESOURCES, FARMER, FISCAL POLICY, FORMAL EDUCATION, GDP, GENDER, GINI COEFFICIENT, GLOBAL CONSENSUS, GOVERNMENT POLICIES, GOVERNMENT POLICY, HEALTH OUTCOMES, HIGH INCOME INEQUALITY, HOME, HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION, HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION PER CAPITA, HOUSEHOLD INCOME, HOUSEHOLD PER CAPITA INCOME, HOUSEHOLD SURVEY, HOUSEHOLD SURVEY DATA, HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS, HOUSEHOLDS, HOUSES, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX, IMMUNIZATION, INCOME DIFFERENCES, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, INCOME GROUPS, INCOME INEQUALITY, INCOME REDISTRIBUTION, INCOMES, INDIGENOUS PEOPLE, INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM, INEQUALITIES, INEQUALITY, INEQUALITY DECOMPOSITION, INEQUALITY OF INCOME, INEQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITIES, INEQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY, INEQUALITY OF TREATMENT, INEQUALITY REDUCTION, INEQUALITY TRAP, INEQUALITY TRAPS, INEQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION, INEQUITIES, INEQUITY, INFANT, INFANT MORTALITY, INFANT MORTALITY RATE, INTERGENERATIONAL MOBILITY, INTERGENERATIONAL TRANSMISSION, INTERNATIONAL BANK, INTERVENTIONS, INVESTMENT CLIMATE, JOB CREATION, JUDGE, JUSTICE, LABOR MARKET, LABOR MARKETS, LAND OWNERSHIP, LANGUAGE BARRIERS, LAWS, LEGAL STATUS, LEVEL OF EDUCATION, LEVELS OF INEQUALITY, LIBERTY, LIFE EXPECTANCY, LITERACY, LIVE BIRTHS, LOW INCOME, MACROECONOMICS, MEAN CONSUMPTION, MEAN LOG DEVIATION, MEASURE OF INEQUALITY, MEASURING INEQUALITY, MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOAL, MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS, MOTHER, NATIONAL COUNCIL, NATIONAL LEVEL, NATURAL RESOURCES, NUTRITION, OUTCOME DATA, OVERALL INEQUALITY, PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION, POLICY DESIGN, POLICY MAKERS, POLICY MAKING, POLITICAL ECONOMY, POLITICAL RIGHT, POLITICAL SCIENTISTS, POOR, POOR CHILDREN, POSITIVE CORRELATION, POSITIVE VALUE, POVERTY ANALYSIS, POVERTY REDUCTION, PREGNANCY, PRIMARY EDUCATION, PRIMARY SCHOOL, PRINCIPLE OF EQUALITY, PRIVACY, PRIVATE SECTOR, PRIVATIZATION, PROGRAMS, PROGRESS, PROPERTY RIGHTS, PUBLIC POLICIES, PUBLIC POLICY, PUBLIC SERVICES, PURCHASING POWER, PURCHASING POWER PARITY, RACE, REDISTRIBUTIVE POLICIES, REDUCING INEQUALITY, REDUCING POVERTY, RELATIVE IMPORTANCE, RELATIVE INCOME, REMITTANCES, RESIDUAL COMPONENT, RESIDUAL INEQUALITY, RIGHT, RUNNING WATER, RURAL, RURAL AREAS, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, RURAL DIVIDE, SAFE WATER, SANITATION, SCHOOL ATTENDANCE, SECONDARY EDUCATION, SECONDARY SCHOOLING, SERVICE DELIVERY, SERVICES FOR CHILDREN, SEX, SIMULATIONS, SINGLE-PARENT HOUSEHOLD, SOCIAL CAPITAL, SOCIAL CONDITIONS, SOCIAL CONFLICT, SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL EQUALITY, SOCIAL POLICIES, SOCIAL POLICY, SOCIAL RESEARCH, SOCIAL SECURITY, SOCIAL SERVICE, SOCIAL WELFARE, SOCIOECONOMIC BACKGROUND, SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRESS, SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, TERTIARY EDUCATION, TOTAL INEQUALITY, UNEQUAL OPPORTUNITIES, UNEQUAL OUTCOMES, UNION, UNIVERSAL ACCESS, URBAN AREAS, VILLAGE, VULNERABILITY, WIDOW, WILL, YOUNG PEOPLE,
Online Access:	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000333037_20081211231618 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2580
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