The roots of inequality : estimating inequality of opportunity from regression trees (English)

This paper proposes a set of new methods to estimate inequality of opportunity based on conditional inference regression trees. It illustrates how these methods represent a substantial improvement over existing empirical approaches to measure inequality... See More This paper proposes a set of new methods to estimate inequality of opportunity based on conditional inference regression trees. It illustrates how these methods represent a substantial improvement over existing empirical approaches to measure inequality of opportunity. First, the new methods minimize the risk of arbitrary and ad hoc model selection. Second, they provide a standardized way to trade off upward and downward biases in inequality of opportunity estimations.