Polarization of opportunity

Salas-Rojo, Pedro ORCID: 0000-0002-8763-8909, Jordá, Vanesa and Brunori, Paolo ORCID: 0000-0002-1624-905X (2025) Polarization of opportunity. Economics Letters, 253. ISSN 0165-1765

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Abstract

We introduce the concept of polarization of opportunities (POp) to explore how various circumstances shape unfair inequalities. While conventional measures of inequality of opportunity (IOp) focus on outcome disparities linked to factors such as race or gender, they do not account for how these circumstances group individuals into relatively uniform clusters. POp fills this gap by examining both the influence of circumstances and their role in clustering individuals into distinct poles. Using U.S. data, our analysis shows that while income polarization and IOp have risen over time, POp has decreased.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2025 The Author(s)
Divisions:	International Inequalities Institute
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HG Finance H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory H Social Sciences
JEL classification:	D - Microeconomics > D6 - Welfare Economics > D63 - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement D - Microeconomics > D3 - Distribution > D31 - Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions
Date Deposited:	27 May 2025 09:36
Last Modified:	24 Jun 2025 16:42
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/128173

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