EOPM - Multidimensional Equality of Opportunity

奥巴马总统的前主要经济顾问艾伦·克鲁格曾说过：“过去30年来，美国不平等程度的加剧已经达到了一个地步，即收入不平等正在导致不健康的机会分配，并对我们的经济增长构成威胁。”机会平等，而不是纯粹的结果平等，考虑到了个人责任的因素。个人应该有平等的机会，因为他们无法控制的因素对他们的福祉没有影响。在这种背景条件下，这是个人的选择，采取足够的努力，以获得特定的幸福水平。幸福是一个多维的概念，不能简化为收入等单一指标，这一点在文献中得到了广泛的承认，在实际决策中更是如此。因此，如果公共政策的目标是寻求机会平等，那么其衡量标准必须考虑到福祉的多维度。然而，到目前为止，关于机会平等的研究人员在这项任务上进展甚微--这一缺陷将被本研究项目解决。该项目由四个包组成。首先，我们研究了机会平等的理论模型，目标是将个人责任和多维幸福联系起来。其次，我们提供了不同的测量方法来评估在存在多种结果的情况下的机会均等。第三，我们应用已开发的措施来评估多层面福祉方面的机会平等。在最后一步，我们通过多维视角分析生命周期中的不平等机会，从而对现有文献做出贡献。贝多芬的召唤提供了一个在这一领域进行研究的独特机会，这一领域受到了公众的大量关注。它有助于将幸福和不平等衡量理论方面的研究经验与经验型研究小组的能力结合起来(波兰)，该研究小组在估计机会均等方面有着良好的记录(德国)。此外，该项目将极大地受益于优秀的合作者(意大利、英国)，他们是该领域的知名专家。

Alan Krueger, a former main economic advisor to President Obama, once said: "The rise in inequality in the United States over the last three decades has reached the point that inequality in incomes is causing an unhealthy division in opportunities, and is a threat to our economic growth." Equality of opportunity, as opposed to pure equality of outcomes, takes into account the element of individual responsibility. Individuals should have equal opportunities in the sense that factors beyond their control have no impact on their well-being. Against this background condition, it is then the choice of the individual to exercise sufficient effort to obtain a specific level of well-being. It is widely acknowledged in the literature and more so in practical decision-making that well-being is a multidimensional concept and cannot be reduced to a single proxy such as income. Therefore if the goal of public policy is to seek equality of opportunity, its measurement has to account for the multidimensionality of well-being. To date, however, researchers on equality of opportunity have made only little progress on this mission - a shortcoming that will be addressed by this research project.The project consists of four packages. First, we investigate theoretical models of equality of opportunity with the goal to link individual responsibility and multi-dimensional well-being. Second, we offer various measurement approaches to evaluate equality of opportunity in the presence of multiple outcomes. Third, we apply the developed measures to assess equality of opportunity with respect to multidimensional well-being. In a last step, we contribute to the existing literature by analyzing unequal opportunities over the life-cycle through the lens of multidimensionality.The Beethoven call offers a unique opportunity to conduct research in this area which receives substantial public attention. It facilitates the integration of research experience in the theory of the measurement of well-being and inequality (Poland) with the capacities of an empirically oriented research group that has a strong track-record of estimating equality of opportunity (Germany). Furthermore, the project will benefit greatly from excellent collaborators (Italy, UK) who are established experts in the field.