Inequality of Opportunities in the Labor Market: Evidence from Life in Transition Surveys in Europe and Central Asia

Background Paper for the World Development Report 2013. Revised version published at IZA Journal of Labor & Development (2013), 2:7

40 Pages Posted: 16 Jan 2015

See all articles by Ana Abras

Ana Abras

World Bank

Alejandro Hoyos

Independent

Ambar Narayan

World Bank, Poverty Global Practice

Sailesh Tiwari

Brown University - Department of Economics; World Bank

Date Written: January 14, 2015

Abstract

The paper attempts to quantify the degree of inequality of opportunity in labor market outcomes for a selection of countries in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region. It adapts the Human Opportunity Index (HOI) methodology that has been widely used to study opportunities of children to measures of inequality in the labor market for working age adults, using data from the Life in Transition Surveys (LiTS) conducted in 2006. The observed inequalities are decomposed into components that are attributable to circumstances an individual was born into (e.g., gender, parents’ education, minority status) and other characteristics (education and age). Additional exercises are conducted with this measure: (i) comparisons with an expenditure-based measure of inequality of opportunity; (ii) the extent to which the measures of inequality resonate with individual perceptions of life satisfaction and fairness; and (iii) how the results for ECA countries compare with similar measures in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region. The findings show substantial inequality of opportunity (attributable to circumstances that an individual was born into) in employment status in the ECA region and a high degree of heterogeneity across countries in the circumstances that matter the most for inequality. The correlations between measures and perceptions of inequality among citizens across ECA countries suggest that inequality between groups, including measures of inequality of opportunity, matter more than overall measures of inequality for citizen perceptions of fairness.

Keywords: Inequality, equality of opportunity, labor markets, jobs, perceptions, Europe & Central Asia

JEL Classification: O11, O12, J21

Suggested Citation

Abras, Ana and Hoyos, Alejandro and Narayan, Ambar and Tiwari, Sailesh and Tiwari, Sailesh, Inequality of Opportunities in the Labor Market: Evidence from Life in Transition Surveys in Europe and Central Asia (January 14, 2015). Background Paper for the World Development Report 2013. Revised version published at IZA Journal of Labor & Development (2013), 2:7, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2549625

Ana Abras

World Bank ( email )

1818 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20433
United States

Alejandro Hoyos

Independent ( email )

Ambar Narayan (Contact Author)

World Bank, Poverty Global Practice ( email )

1818 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20433
United States

Sailesh Tiwari

World Bank ( email )

1818 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20433
United States

Brown University - Department of Economics ( email )

64 Waterman Street
Providence, RI 02912
United States

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