Equalization of Opportunity: Definitions, Implementable Conditions and Application to Early-Child... more Equalization of Opportunity: Definitions, Implementable Conditions and Application to Early-Childhood Policy Evaluation * This paper develops a criterion to assess equalization of opportunity that is consistent with theoretical views of equality of opportunity. We characterize inequality of opportunity as a situation where some groups in society enjoy an illegitimate advantage. In this context, equalization of opportunity requires that the extent of the illegitimate advantage enjoyed by the privileged groups falls. Robustness requires that this judgement be supported by the broadest class of individual preferences. We formalize this criterion in a decision theoretic framework, and derive an empirical condition for equalization of opportunity based on observed opportunity distributions. The criterion is used to assess the effectiveness of child care at equalizing opportunity among children, using quantile treatment effects estimates of a major child care reform in Norway.
The Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS), directed by Stefano Bartolini since Septe... more The Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS), directed by Stefano Bartolini since September 2006, is home to a large post-doctoral programme. Created in 1992, it aims to develop inter-disciplinary and comparative research and to promote work on the major issues facing the process of integration and European society. The Centre hosts major research programmes and projects, and a range of working groups and ad hoc initiatives. The research agenda is organised around a set of core themes and is continuously evolving, reflecting the changing agenda of European integration and the expanding membership of the European Union.
The Review of Economics and Statistics, May 1, 2019
This paper develops a criterion to assess equalization of opportunity that is consistent with the... more This paper develops a criterion to assess equalization of opportunity that is consistent with theoretical views of equality of opportunity. We characterize inequality of opportunity as a situation where some groups in society enjoy an illegitimate advantage. In this context, equalization of opportunity requires that the extent of the illegitimate advantage enjoyed by the privileged groups falls. Robustness requires that this judgement be supported by the broadest class of individual preferences. We formalize this criterion in a decision theoretic framework, and derive an empirical condition for equalization of opportunity based on observed opportunity distributions. The criterion is used to assess the effectiveness of child care at equalizing opportunity among children, using quantile treatment effects estimates of a major child care reform in Norway. Overall, we find strong evidence supporting equalization of opportunity.
Equality of opportunity is usually defined as a situation where the effect of circumstances on ou... more Equality of opportunity is usually defined as a situation where the effect of circumstances on outcome is nullified (compensation principle) and effort is rewarded (reward principle). We propose a new version of the reward principle based on the idea that effort deserves reward for it is costly. We show that luck can be introduced in two ways in the definition of these principles, depending on whether the correlation between luck and circumstances should be nullified and whether the correlation between luck and effort should be rewarded. In this regard, the timing of luck with respect to effort decisions is crucial, as is exemplified by moral hazard where effort choice influences the lottery of future uncertain events.
This paper estimates the extent of intergenerational income mobility in Japan among sons and daug... more This paper estimates the extent of intergenerational income mobility in Japan among sons and daughters born between 1935 and 1975. Our estimates rely on a two-sample instrumental variables approach using representative data from the Japanese Social Stratification and Mobility (SSM) surveys, collected between 1965 and 2005. Father's income is predicted on the basis of a rich set of variables and we discuss changes in the Japanese earnings structure for cohorts born between the early 1900s and the 1960s. Our main results indicate that the intergenerational income elasticity (IGE) for both sons and daughters, in Japan lies around .35, which is an intermediate value, by international standards. We discuss the sensitivity of the IGE to using either personal or family income as the income variable for both fathers and children. We also examine changes across cohorts in the IGE. Results indicate that intergenerational mobility has been roughly stable over the last decades.
Equality of opportunity is usually defined as a situation where the effect of circumstances on ou... more Equality of opportunity is usually defined as a situation where the effect of circumstances on outcome is nullified (compensation principle) and the effort is acknowledged (reward principle). We propose a new version of the reward principle and we show that luck can be introduced in two ways in the definition of these principles, depending on whether the correlation between luck and circumstances should be nullified and whether the correlation between luck and effort should be rewarded. This leads to two distinct formulations (before-luck and after-luck) of the compensation and reward principles. Each combination of principles correspond to a particular view about how luck affects the opportunities of success. We also pay attention to the correlation between effort and circumstances which is dear to Roemer in a context of uncertainty.
Nous appréhendons l’égalité des chances de revenu comme une situation où il n’est pas possible de... more Nous appréhendons l’égalité des chances de revenu comme une situation où il n’est pas possible de classer les distributions conditionnelles de revenu du fils par rapport à la CSP du père selon les critères de dominance stochastique d’ordre 1 ou 2. Les données utilisées proviennent des 5 enquêtes BDF réalisées entre 1979 et 2000. La robustesse statistique des conclusions est
We oer a model of equality of opportunity that encompasses dierent conceptions expressed in the p... more We oer a model of equality of opportunity that encompasses dierent conceptions expressed in the public debate. In addition to circumstances whose eect on outcome should be compensated and eort which represents a legitimate source of inequality, we introduce a third factor, luck, that captures the non-responsibility factors whose impact on outcome should be even-handed for equality of opportunity to be satised. Then, we analyse how the various denitions of equality of opportunity can be empirically identied, given data limitations and provide testable conditions. Denitions and conditions resort to standard stochastic dominance tools. Lastly, we develop an empirical analysis of equality of opportunity for income acquisition in France over the period 1979-2000 which reveals that the degree of inequality of opportunity tends to decrease and that the risk of social lotteries appears very similar across the dierent groups of social origin.
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2005
This paper examines the extent and evolution of intergenerational earnings mobility in France. We... more This paper examines the extent and evolution of intergenerational earnings mobility in France. We use data from five waves of the French Education-Training-Employment (FQP) surveys covering the period 1964 to 1993. Our estimation procedure follows Björklund and Jäntti (1997)'s two-sample instrumental variable method. On our samples, the elasticity of son's (respectively daughter's) long-run income with respect to father's long run income is around .4 (resp. .3) with no significant change over the period under scrutiny. Comparing these estimates to results obtained from other studies suggest that intergenerational mobility is higher in France than in the United States and United Kingdom and lower than in Scandinavian countries. JEL codes : D1,D3,J3.
To analyze equality of opportunity we examine the influence of family characteristics on the dist... more To analyze equality of opportunity we examine the influence of family characteristics on the distribution of outcome for a given generation. Here, we study changes in equality of opportunity for income acquisition between 1977 and 1993, conditional on father's income level and income rank, using the FOP surveys. First, resorting to stochastic dominance criteria, we show that inequality of opportunity appears stable over this period, if one conditions on father's income level, but has decreased, if one conditions on father's income rank. Second, we offer an equality of opportunity index, based on the mean logarithmic deviation and show how to decompose the evolution over time of this index using standard intergenerational earnings regression analysis. Using this framework, we show that the first result arises from the stability over time in the intergenerational earnings elasticity while the second stems from a reduction in earnings inequality among fathers between 1977 and 1993. In other words, lower earnings inequality among parents, between these two dates, has translated into lower earnings inequality among children, although the strength of the association between the income of successive generations has remained unchanged
Educational policies are widely recognized as the means par excellence to equalize opportunities ... more Educational policies are widely recognized as the means par excellence to equalize opportunities among children with different social and family backgrounds and to promote intergenerational mobility. In this chapter, we focus on the French case and we apply the opportunity equalization criterion proposed by Andreoli, Havnes, and Lefranc (2019) for evaluating the effect of rising compulsory schooling requirements in secondary education. Our results show that such education expansion has a limited redistributive effect on students’ earnings distribution. Nonetheless, we provide evidence of opportunity equalization among groups of students defined by family background circumstances.
Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of IZA. Research published i... more Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of IZA. Research published in this series may include views on policy, but the institute itself takes no institutional policy positions. The IZA research network is committed to the IZA Guiding Principles of Research Integrity. The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn is a local and virtual international research center and a place of communication between science, politics and business. IZA is an independent nonprofit organization supported by Deutsche Post Foundation. The center is associated with the University of Bonn and offers a stimulating research environment through its international network, workshops and conferences, data service, project support, research visits and doctoral program. IZA engages in (i) original and internationally competitive research in all fields of labor economics, (ii) development of policy concepts, and (iii) dissemination of research results and concepts to the intereste...
Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of IZA. Research published i... more Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of IZA. Research published in this series may include views on policy, but the institute itself takes no institutional policy positions. The IZA research network is committed to the IZA Guiding Principles of Research Integrity. The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn is a local and virtual international research center and a place of communication between science, politics and business. IZA is an independent nonprofit organization supported by Deutsche Post Foundation. The center is associated with the University of Bonn and offers a stimulating research environment through its international network, workshops and conferences, data service, project support, research visits and doctoral program. IZA engages in (i) original and internationally competitive research in all fields of labor economics, (ii) development of policy concepts, and (iii) dissemination of research results and concepts to the intereste...
Using data from the National Sample Survey we estimate inequality of opportunity for India, in co... more Using data from the National Sample Survey we estimate inequality of opportunity for India, in consumption expenditure, wage earning and education, on the basis of caste, sex, region and parental backgrounds as our circumstances. We use the widely used methods of non-parametric and parametric analysis to find that even in 2011-12, more than one-fourth of total inequality in wage and education is due to unequal circumstances. But as compared to the other two outcomes, we find inequality of opportunity in consumption to be relatively low. We further provide the opportunity tree for India using the recently introduced method of the regression tree analysis and find parental backgrounds as the most important circumstances for all outcomes. The opportunity tree also reveals a hierarchical order among the circumstances that are most relevant for the underlying unequal opportunity in the country. JEL Classification : D31, D63, I24
This paper examines the contribution of family background to inequality in France by estimating s... more This paper examines the contribution of family background to inequality in France by estimating sibling correlations in various measures of socio-economic success. Compared to often reported measures of intergenerational elasticity, the sibling correlation in socio-economic outcomes allows to capture a broader set of family influences. We use data from the French Education-Training-Employment (FQP) survey to investigate similarities between siblings in education, social prestige and earnings. We also investigate trends over time in sibling correlations and differences across family types in siblings' characteristics. Our results indicate a high degree of association in siblings' socio-economic success. The correlation is around 0.3 and 0.5 respectively for social prestige and years of education. The sibling correlation in annual earnings is around 0.4. All in all, this indicates that estimates of the intergenerational elasticity lead to underestimate the role of family backg...
We analyze the tradeoff between child quantity and quality in developing countries by estimating ... more We analyze the tradeoff between child quantity and quality in developing countries by estimating the effect of family size on child’s education in urban Philippines. To isolate exogenous changes in family size, we exploit a policy shock that occurred in the late 1990s when the mayor of Manila enacted a municipal ban on modern contraceptives. Since other comparable cities in the Manila metropolitan area where not affected by the ban, this allows us to implement a differencein-difference estimation of the effect of family size. Our analysis relies on census and survey data and focuses on two dimensions : the effect of the ban on fertility and family size and the effect of family size on the probability for a child be held back in school. Our results indicate that the contraceptive ban lead to a significant increase in family size, which had a sizable, negative impact on child education.
This paper develops a criterion of opportunity equalization, that is consistent with theoretical ... more This paper develops a criterion of opportunity equalization, that is consistent with theoretical views of equality of opportunity. Our analysis rests on the characterization of inequality of opportunity as a situation where some groups in society enjoy an illegitimate advantage. In this context, equalization of opportunity requires that the extent of the illegitimate advantage enjoyed by the privileged groups falls. Robustness requires that this judgement be supported by the broadest class of individual preferences. We formalize this criterion by resorting to a decision theory perspective and we derive an empirical condition for equalization of opportunity that is defined on the sole basis of observed opportunity distributions. We discuss observability constraints and offer an empirical testing procedure to implement this condition. Lastly, we apply these criteria to the study of the equalizing impact of educational policy in France.
This comment discusses the results of Stephen Bazen's paper on the impact the minimum wage on emp... more This comment discusses the results of Stephen Bazen's paper on the impact the minimum wage on employment in the U.S., in the light of previous analysis, and consider their possible implications in the Euopean and French contexts.
This paper analyzes assortative mating and its contribution to inequality in France. We first pro... more This paper analyzes assortative mating and its contribution to inequality in France. We first provide descriptive evidence on the statistical association in several socio‐economic attributes of partners. Second, we assess the contribution of assortative mating to earnings inequality between couples. We provide a new method for assessing the contribution of assortative mating to inequality in couple’s potential earnings, that accounts for selection bias arising from labor force participation. Our results indicate a strong degree of assortative mating in France. The correlation in earnings is around 0.17 for annual earnings, around 0.35 for full‐time equivalent earnings and up to 0.49 when using multi‐year average earnings. Assortative mating tends to increase inequality among couples. For annual earnings, the effect accounts for 3 to 9 percent of measured inequality. The effect of assortative mating on household potential earnings is much larger and amounts to 10 to 20 percent for ob...
This paper analyses long‐term trends in intergenerational earnings persistence in France for male... more This paper analyses long‐term trends in intergenerational earnings persistence in France for male cohorts born between 1931 and 1975. This time period has witnessed important changes in the French labour market and educational system, in particular an important compression of earnings differentials as well as a large expansion in access to secondary and higher education. Using a two‐sample instrumental variables approach, I estimate two measures of intergenerational economic persistence: the intergenerational earnings elasticity (IGE) and the intergenerational correlation (IGC). Over the period, the IGE exhibits a V‐shaped pattern. It falls from a high of value of 0.6 for cohorts born in the 1930s to around 0.4 for those born in the 1950s, but subsequently rises to a level close to that at the beginning of the period. In contrast, the IGC remains relatively stable over the period. This suggests that changes in the IGE are partly driven by transitory responses to changes in cross‐sec...
Equalization of Opportunity: Definitions, Implementable Conditions and Application to Early-Child... more Equalization of Opportunity: Definitions, Implementable Conditions and Application to Early-Childhood Policy Evaluation * This paper develops a criterion to assess equalization of opportunity that is consistent with theoretical views of equality of opportunity. We characterize inequality of opportunity as a situation where some groups in society enjoy an illegitimate advantage. In this context, equalization of opportunity requires that the extent of the illegitimate advantage enjoyed by the privileged groups falls. Robustness requires that this judgement be supported by the broadest class of individual preferences. We formalize this criterion in a decision theoretic framework, and derive an empirical condition for equalization of opportunity based on observed opportunity distributions. The criterion is used to assess the effectiveness of child care at equalizing opportunity among children, using quantile treatment effects estimates of a major child care reform in Norway.
The Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS), directed by Stefano Bartolini since Septe... more The Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS), directed by Stefano Bartolini since September 2006, is home to a large post-doctoral programme. Created in 1992, it aims to develop inter-disciplinary and comparative research and to promote work on the major issues facing the process of integration and European society. The Centre hosts major research programmes and projects, and a range of working groups and ad hoc initiatives. The research agenda is organised around a set of core themes and is continuously evolving, reflecting the changing agenda of European integration and the expanding membership of the European Union.
The Review of Economics and Statistics, May 1, 2019
This paper develops a criterion to assess equalization of opportunity that is consistent with the... more This paper develops a criterion to assess equalization of opportunity that is consistent with theoretical views of equality of opportunity. We characterize inequality of opportunity as a situation where some groups in society enjoy an illegitimate advantage. In this context, equalization of opportunity requires that the extent of the illegitimate advantage enjoyed by the privileged groups falls. Robustness requires that this judgement be supported by the broadest class of individual preferences. We formalize this criterion in a decision theoretic framework, and derive an empirical condition for equalization of opportunity based on observed opportunity distributions. The criterion is used to assess the effectiveness of child care at equalizing opportunity among children, using quantile treatment effects estimates of a major child care reform in Norway. Overall, we find strong evidence supporting equalization of opportunity.
Equality of opportunity is usually defined as a situation where the effect of circumstances on ou... more Equality of opportunity is usually defined as a situation where the effect of circumstances on outcome is nullified (compensation principle) and effort is rewarded (reward principle). We propose a new version of the reward principle based on the idea that effort deserves reward for it is costly. We show that luck can be introduced in two ways in the definition of these principles, depending on whether the correlation between luck and circumstances should be nullified and whether the correlation between luck and effort should be rewarded. In this regard, the timing of luck with respect to effort decisions is crucial, as is exemplified by moral hazard where effort choice influences the lottery of future uncertain events.
This paper estimates the extent of intergenerational income mobility in Japan among sons and daug... more This paper estimates the extent of intergenerational income mobility in Japan among sons and daughters born between 1935 and 1975. Our estimates rely on a two-sample instrumental variables approach using representative data from the Japanese Social Stratification and Mobility (SSM) surveys, collected between 1965 and 2005. Father's income is predicted on the basis of a rich set of variables and we discuss changes in the Japanese earnings structure for cohorts born between the early 1900s and the 1960s. Our main results indicate that the intergenerational income elasticity (IGE) for both sons and daughters, in Japan lies around .35, which is an intermediate value, by international standards. We discuss the sensitivity of the IGE to using either personal or family income as the income variable for both fathers and children. We also examine changes across cohorts in the IGE. Results indicate that intergenerational mobility has been roughly stable over the last decades.
Equality of opportunity is usually defined as a situation where the effect of circumstances on ou... more Equality of opportunity is usually defined as a situation where the effect of circumstances on outcome is nullified (compensation principle) and the effort is acknowledged (reward principle). We propose a new version of the reward principle and we show that luck can be introduced in two ways in the definition of these principles, depending on whether the correlation between luck and circumstances should be nullified and whether the correlation between luck and effort should be rewarded. This leads to two distinct formulations (before-luck and after-luck) of the compensation and reward principles. Each combination of principles correspond to a particular view about how luck affects the opportunities of success. We also pay attention to the correlation between effort and circumstances which is dear to Roemer in a context of uncertainty.
Nous appréhendons l’égalité des chances de revenu comme une situation où il n’est pas possible de... more Nous appréhendons l’égalité des chances de revenu comme une situation où il n’est pas possible de classer les distributions conditionnelles de revenu du fils par rapport à la CSP du père selon les critères de dominance stochastique d’ordre 1 ou 2. Les données utilisées proviennent des 5 enquêtes BDF réalisées entre 1979 et 2000. La robustesse statistique des conclusions est
We oer a model of equality of opportunity that encompasses dierent conceptions expressed in the p... more We oer a model of equality of opportunity that encompasses dierent conceptions expressed in the public debate. In addition to circumstances whose eect on outcome should be compensated and eort which represents a legitimate source of inequality, we introduce a third factor, luck, that captures the non-responsibility factors whose impact on outcome should be even-handed for equality of opportunity to be satised. Then, we analyse how the various denitions of equality of opportunity can be empirically identied, given data limitations and provide testable conditions. Denitions and conditions resort to standard stochastic dominance tools. Lastly, we develop an empirical analysis of equality of opportunity for income acquisition in France over the period 1979-2000 which reveals that the degree of inequality of opportunity tends to decrease and that the risk of social lotteries appears very similar across the dierent groups of social origin.
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2005
This paper examines the extent and evolution of intergenerational earnings mobility in France. We... more This paper examines the extent and evolution of intergenerational earnings mobility in France. We use data from five waves of the French Education-Training-Employment (FQP) surveys covering the period 1964 to 1993. Our estimation procedure follows Björklund and Jäntti (1997)'s two-sample instrumental variable method. On our samples, the elasticity of son's (respectively daughter's) long-run income with respect to father's long run income is around .4 (resp. .3) with no significant change over the period under scrutiny. Comparing these estimates to results obtained from other studies suggest that intergenerational mobility is higher in France than in the United States and United Kingdom and lower than in Scandinavian countries. JEL codes : D1,D3,J3.
To analyze equality of opportunity we examine the influence of family characteristics on the dist... more To analyze equality of opportunity we examine the influence of family characteristics on the distribution of outcome for a given generation. Here, we study changes in equality of opportunity for income acquisition between 1977 and 1993, conditional on father's income level and income rank, using the FOP surveys. First, resorting to stochastic dominance criteria, we show that inequality of opportunity appears stable over this period, if one conditions on father's income level, but has decreased, if one conditions on father's income rank. Second, we offer an equality of opportunity index, based on the mean logarithmic deviation and show how to decompose the evolution over time of this index using standard intergenerational earnings regression analysis. Using this framework, we show that the first result arises from the stability over time in the intergenerational earnings elasticity while the second stems from a reduction in earnings inequality among fathers between 1977 and 1993. In other words, lower earnings inequality among parents, between these two dates, has translated into lower earnings inequality among children, although the strength of the association between the income of successive generations has remained unchanged
Educational policies are widely recognized as the means par excellence to equalize opportunities ... more Educational policies are widely recognized as the means par excellence to equalize opportunities among children with different social and family backgrounds and to promote intergenerational mobility. In this chapter, we focus on the French case and we apply the opportunity equalization criterion proposed by Andreoli, Havnes, and Lefranc (2019) for evaluating the effect of rising compulsory schooling requirements in secondary education. Our results show that such education expansion has a limited redistributive effect on students’ earnings distribution. Nonetheless, we provide evidence of opportunity equalization among groups of students defined by family background circumstances.
Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of IZA. Research published i... more Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of IZA. Research published in this series may include views on policy, but the institute itself takes no institutional policy positions. The IZA research network is committed to the IZA Guiding Principles of Research Integrity. The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn is a local and virtual international research center and a place of communication between science, politics and business. IZA is an independent nonprofit organization supported by Deutsche Post Foundation. The center is associated with the University of Bonn and offers a stimulating research environment through its international network, workshops and conferences, data service, project support, research visits and doctoral program. IZA engages in (i) original and internationally competitive research in all fields of labor economics, (ii) development of policy concepts, and (iii) dissemination of research results and concepts to the intereste...
Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of IZA. Research published i... more Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of IZA. Research published in this series may include views on policy, but the institute itself takes no institutional policy positions. The IZA research network is committed to the IZA Guiding Principles of Research Integrity. The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn is a local and virtual international research center and a place of communication between science, politics and business. IZA is an independent nonprofit organization supported by Deutsche Post Foundation. The center is associated with the University of Bonn and offers a stimulating research environment through its international network, workshops and conferences, data service, project support, research visits and doctoral program. IZA engages in (i) original and internationally competitive research in all fields of labor economics, (ii) development of policy concepts, and (iii) dissemination of research results and concepts to the intereste...
Using data from the National Sample Survey we estimate inequality of opportunity for India, in co... more Using data from the National Sample Survey we estimate inequality of opportunity for India, in consumption expenditure, wage earning and education, on the basis of caste, sex, region and parental backgrounds as our circumstances. We use the widely used methods of non-parametric and parametric analysis to find that even in 2011-12, more than one-fourth of total inequality in wage and education is due to unequal circumstances. But as compared to the other two outcomes, we find inequality of opportunity in consumption to be relatively low. We further provide the opportunity tree for India using the recently introduced method of the regression tree analysis and find parental backgrounds as the most important circumstances for all outcomes. The opportunity tree also reveals a hierarchical order among the circumstances that are most relevant for the underlying unequal opportunity in the country. JEL Classification : D31, D63, I24
This paper examines the contribution of family background to inequality in France by estimating s... more This paper examines the contribution of family background to inequality in France by estimating sibling correlations in various measures of socio-economic success. Compared to often reported measures of intergenerational elasticity, the sibling correlation in socio-economic outcomes allows to capture a broader set of family influences. We use data from the French Education-Training-Employment (FQP) survey to investigate similarities between siblings in education, social prestige and earnings. We also investigate trends over time in sibling correlations and differences across family types in siblings' characteristics. Our results indicate a high degree of association in siblings' socio-economic success. The correlation is around 0.3 and 0.5 respectively for social prestige and years of education. The sibling correlation in annual earnings is around 0.4. All in all, this indicates that estimates of the intergenerational elasticity lead to underestimate the role of family backg...
We analyze the tradeoff between child quantity and quality in developing countries by estimating ... more We analyze the tradeoff between child quantity and quality in developing countries by estimating the effect of family size on child’s education in urban Philippines. To isolate exogenous changes in family size, we exploit a policy shock that occurred in the late 1990s when the mayor of Manila enacted a municipal ban on modern contraceptives. Since other comparable cities in the Manila metropolitan area where not affected by the ban, this allows us to implement a differencein-difference estimation of the effect of family size. Our analysis relies on census and survey data and focuses on two dimensions : the effect of the ban on fertility and family size and the effect of family size on the probability for a child be held back in school. Our results indicate that the contraceptive ban lead to a significant increase in family size, which had a sizable, negative impact on child education.
This paper develops a criterion of opportunity equalization, that is consistent with theoretical ... more This paper develops a criterion of opportunity equalization, that is consistent with theoretical views of equality of opportunity. Our analysis rests on the characterization of inequality of opportunity as a situation where some groups in society enjoy an illegitimate advantage. In this context, equalization of opportunity requires that the extent of the illegitimate advantage enjoyed by the privileged groups falls. Robustness requires that this judgement be supported by the broadest class of individual preferences. We formalize this criterion by resorting to a decision theory perspective and we derive an empirical condition for equalization of opportunity that is defined on the sole basis of observed opportunity distributions. We discuss observability constraints and offer an empirical testing procedure to implement this condition. Lastly, we apply these criteria to the study of the equalizing impact of educational policy in France.
This comment discusses the results of Stephen Bazen's paper on the impact the minimum wage on emp... more This comment discusses the results of Stephen Bazen's paper on the impact the minimum wage on employment in the U.S., in the light of previous analysis, and consider their possible implications in the Euopean and French contexts.
This paper analyzes assortative mating and its contribution to inequality in France. We first pro... more This paper analyzes assortative mating and its contribution to inequality in France. We first provide descriptive evidence on the statistical association in several socio‐economic attributes of partners. Second, we assess the contribution of assortative mating to earnings inequality between couples. We provide a new method for assessing the contribution of assortative mating to inequality in couple’s potential earnings, that accounts for selection bias arising from labor force participation. Our results indicate a strong degree of assortative mating in France. The correlation in earnings is around 0.17 for annual earnings, around 0.35 for full‐time equivalent earnings and up to 0.49 when using multi‐year average earnings. Assortative mating tends to increase inequality among couples. For annual earnings, the effect accounts for 3 to 9 percent of measured inequality. The effect of assortative mating on household potential earnings is much larger and amounts to 10 to 20 percent for ob...
This paper analyses long‐term trends in intergenerational earnings persistence in France for male... more This paper analyses long‐term trends in intergenerational earnings persistence in France for male cohorts born between 1931 and 1975. This time period has witnessed important changes in the French labour market and educational system, in particular an important compression of earnings differentials as well as a large expansion in access to secondary and higher education. Using a two‐sample instrumental variables approach, I estimate two measures of intergenerational economic persistence: the intergenerational earnings elasticity (IGE) and the intergenerational correlation (IGC). Over the period, the IGE exhibits a V‐shaped pattern. It falls from a high of value of 0.6 for cohorts born in the 1930s to around 0.4 for those born in the 1950s, but subsequently rises to a level close to that at the beginning of the period. In contrast, the IGC remains relatively stable over the period. This suggests that changes in the IGE are partly driven by transitory responses to changes in cross‐sec...
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Papers by Arnaud Lefranc