Educational policy is usually seen as the meanspar excellenceto foster equality of opportunity and reduce the intergenerational transmission of inequality. Among the various policy instruments, ...pre-primary schooling programs have recently received considerable attention, notably among economists (Cunha, Heckman, and Lochner 2006). The arguments in favor of such programs are twofold. First, family background shapes inequality of individual success very early in the life cycle, as shown, for instance, in chapter 4 of this volume. Second, the likely existence of dynamic complementarities in the process of human capital accumulation strongly enhances the efficiency of interventions that occur very early
Cet article examine la qualité des réponses individuelles aux enquêtes Emploi de l'INSEE. Nous rappelons tout d'abord les conséquences possibles de l'existence d'erreurs de mesure pour l'analyse ...économétrique et présentons les principales statistiques permettant d'évaluer la qualité des données déclarées. Nous procédons ensuite à une évaluation de la qualité des déclarations salariales fournies en réponse à l'enquête Emploi à partir de données appariant une partie des enquêtes Emploi et les déclarations fiscales de revenus d'activité contenues dans les enquêtes Revenus Fiscaux. Nous examinons successivement la qualité des déclarations de niveaux de salaire et de variation interannuelles de salaire et discutons la contribution des comportements d'arrondi aux erreurs de mesure observées.
This paper examines the incidence of measurement error in wage data on the estimation of returns to seniority. Earnings surveys collect wage data through questions pertaining to earnings and hours ...over a given period of time (year, week) or through direct reports of hourly wages. Comparing results for different wage variables from the panel study of income dynamics (PSID), it is shown that estimated returns to seniority are very sensitive to the type of wage data used. Estimates based on yearly reports are typically twice as large as those using direct reports. Two sources account for this discrepancy. First, the inclusion of earnings from secondary jobs and overtime in the PSID annual earnings data tends to overestimate returns to seniority. Second, hourly wages computed from yearly measures include important measurement errors that tend to bias coefficients upward.
Cet article examine la qualité des réponses individuelles aux enquêtes Emploi de l’INSEE. Nous rappelons tout d’abord les conséquences possibles de l’existence d’erreurs de mesure pour l’analyse ...économétrique et présentons les principales statistiques permettant d’évaluer la qualité des données déclarées. Nous procédons ensuite à une évaluation de la qualité des déclarations salariales fournies en réponse à l’enquête Emploi à partir de données appariant une partie des enquêtes Emploi et les déclarations fiscales de revenus d’activité contenues dans les enquêtes Revenus Fiscaux. Nous examinons successivement la qualité des déclarations de niveaux de salaire et de variation interannuelles de salaire et discutons la contribution des comportements d’arrondi aux erreurs de mesure observées.
This paper assesses the quality of responses to the labor-force survey conducted by the French National Institute of Statistics (INSEE). We summarize the possible impact of measurement error on econometric estimates and discuss the main statistical measures of response quality. We then estimate the reliability of earnings figures reported by respondents to the labor-force survey. For this purpose, we use a sub-sample of the survey that can be matched to data from a survey of tax returns. We gauge the extent of measurement error in reported earnings levels and annual changes in earnings, and we assess the contribution of rounding error to total measured error.
Recent debates on distributive justice have started to prioritize inequality of opportunities, that is exclusively generated from circumstance factors beyond individual control. Using data from the ...National Sample Survey we estimate inequality of opportunity for India in consumption expenditure and wage earning, on the basis of caste, sex, region and parental backgrounds as our circumstances. Adopting the widely used methods of non-parametric and parametric analysis, we find that even in 2011-12, more than one-third of the total wage inequality can be attributed to the differences in the ascribed social positions of an individual. Inequality of opportunity in consumption on the other hand is relatively low. Furthermore, we used the regression tree algorithm to and the hierarchical order among the circumstances and construct the opportunity tree for India, that the previous methods are unable to provide. In the fashion of machine learning, the opportunity tree identifies parental background as one of the most important circumstance factor behind the underlying unequal opportunity in the country, for either outcomes. But the effect of casteism is prominent as well, that in interaction with region, affirms a forward caste premium for most parts of the country, particularly for the regular salaried wage earners.
Purpose – We analyze equality of opportunity for earnings acquisition in France between 1973 and 1993 defining individual circumstances by parental earnings. We compare two different definitions of ...circumstances. In the first one they are measured by the father's earnings level, in the second one by the father's rank in the earnings distribution.Methodology – First we use stochastic dominance tools. Then we decompose the evolution of inequality of opportunity using the mean logarithmic deviation and the results of regressions of descendants’ earnings on their parents’ earnings.Findings – Inequality of opportunity has remained stable when conditioning on the earnings level of the father, whereas it has diminished when conditioning on his rank in the earnings distribution. The former result is explained by the stable intergenerational earnings elasticity. The latter by the decreasing wage inequality in the previous generation.Originality – Our analysis emphasizes that the assessment of equality of opportunity and its evolution is very sensitive to the partition of circumstances used. Moreover, it stresses the complementarity between the discrete and the continuous approaches for measuring inequality of opportunity.
Etudier l'inégalité des chances consiste à étudier des distributions concernant les resultats d'une génération conditionnellement à des caractéristiques du milieu familial. Nous étudions l'évolution ...de l'inégalité des chances entre 1977 et 1993 dans l'obtention du revenu salarial en fonction du rang ou du niveau de revenu du père à l'aide de l'enquête FQP. En faisant appel à des instruments de dominance stochastique, on montre que l'inégalité des chances est restée stable quand on conditionne par rapport au niveau du revenu du père mais qu'elle a diminué lorsque l'on conditionne par rapport au rang du père. On propose ensuite un indice d'inégalité des chances basé sur l'écart logarithmique moyen et une méthode originale de décomposition de l'évolution de cet indice qui s'appuie sur des régressions intergénérationnelles de revenu. Il est alors montré que le premier résultat s'explique par la constance de la valeur estimée de l'élasticité intergénérationnelle de revenu, tandis que le second résultat provient de la baisse de l'inégalité des salaires dans la génération précédente. En d'autres termes, l'égalisation partielle des revenus au sein de la génération des descendants, entre les deux dates, provient uniquement de l'égalisation des revenus au sein du groupe des pères, entre ces deux dates, et non pas d'un plus faible déterminisme social.//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 FQP 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 rant 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. Reproduced by permission of Bibliothèque de Sciences Po
This paper compares the extent of intergenerational mobility in earnings & education, in Japan & France. It uses very similar repeated surveys that provide information on educational attainment and ...family background, conducted in Japan & France. To insure comparability, similar sample restrictions & specifications are imposed. For Japan, we use waves 1965, 1975, 1985, 1995 and 2005 (?). For France, we use waves 1965, 1970, 1977, 1985, 1993 and 2003. Intergenerational elasticity in years of education can be readily estimated using available information. On the other hand, intergenerational earnings elasticity cannot be directly measured given the lack of information on parental income in both surveys. This leads us to apply Bjorklund & Jantti (1999) two sample instrumental variables estimation strategy. Lastly, we discuss to what extent differences in earnings mobility is related to differences in educational mobility & to differences in returns to education between the two countries.
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