Public policies and equality of opportunity for wellbeing in multiple dimensions: a theoretical discussion and evidence from Bolivia

Roemer’s equality of opportunity (EOp) theory is increasingly used as the framework for assessing the link between public policies and social justice. Most studies focus on a single (monetary) wellbeing indicator and take individual efforts as being randomly distributed. However, recent development...

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Main Authors: Krishnakumar, J, Nogales, R
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Springer 2019
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author Krishnakumar, J
Nogales, R
author_facet Krishnakumar, J
Nogales, R
author_sort Krishnakumar, J
collection OXFORD
description Roemer’s equality of opportunity (EOp) theory is increasingly used as the framework for assessing the link between public policies and social justice. Most studies focus on a single (monetary) wellbeing indicator and take individual efforts as being randomly distributed. However, recent development theories have uniformly advocated the use of a multidimensional wellbeing measure and the importance of individual responsibility. We propose a theoretical framework and a modelling tool to include these aspects in an assessment of the connection between public policies and inequality of opportunity for wellbeing within a Romerian setting. Using Bolivian data, we demonstrate the empirical usefulness of our framework and find that Bolivian social programmes are strongly associated with the reduction of unfair inequalities arising from ethnicity and family background, although their levels are far away from being optimal. We highlight the role of effort in this connection and show that it is a fundamental mediating factor.
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spelling oxford-uuid:68c440a9-e92f-4ab2-a48f-100fe6f737062022-03-26T18:47:11ZPublic policies and equality of opportunity for wellbeing in multiple dimensions: a theoretical discussion and evidence from BoliviaJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:68c440a9-e92f-4ab2-a48f-100fe6f73706EnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordSpringer2019Krishnakumar, JNogales, RRoemer’s equality of opportunity (EOp) theory is increasingly used as the framework for assessing the link between public policies and social justice. Most studies focus on a single (monetary) wellbeing indicator and take individual efforts as being randomly distributed. However, recent development theories have uniformly advocated the use of a multidimensional wellbeing measure and the importance of individual responsibility. We propose a theoretical framework and a modelling tool to include these aspects in an assessment of the connection between public policies and inequality of opportunity for wellbeing within a Romerian setting. Using Bolivian data, we demonstrate the empirical usefulness of our framework and find that Bolivian social programmes are strongly associated with the reduction of unfair inequalities arising from ethnicity and family background, although their levels are far away from being optimal. We highlight the role of effort in this connection and show that it is a fundamental mediating factor.
spellingShingle Krishnakumar, J
Nogales, R
Public policies and equality of opportunity for wellbeing in multiple dimensions: a theoretical discussion and evidence from Bolivia
title Public policies and equality of opportunity for wellbeing in multiple dimensions: a theoretical discussion and evidence from Bolivia
title_full Public policies and equality of opportunity for wellbeing in multiple dimensions: a theoretical discussion and evidence from Bolivia
title_fullStr Public policies and equality of opportunity for wellbeing in multiple dimensions: a theoretical discussion and evidence from Bolivia
title_full_unstemmed Public policies and equality of opportunity for wellbeing in multiple dimensions: a theoretical discussion and evidence from Bolivia
title_short Public policies and equality of opportunity for wellbeing in multiple dimensions: a theoretical discussion and evidence from Bolivia
title_sort public policies and equality of opportunity for wellbeing in multiple dimensions a theoretical discussion and evidence from bolivia
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