Inequality of opportunity and income inequality in Spain

Working Paper 2016-423

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to contribute both theoretically and empirically to the study of Inequality of Opportunity in Spain. The analysis is carried out using microdata collected by the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), which incorporate a wide variety of personal harmonised variables, allowing comparability with other countries. The availability of this database for years 2004 and 2010 is particularly relevant to analyse the impact of the economic crisis, the empirical evidence shows significant increases in both income inequality (17.24%) and, more significantly, inequality of opportunity (62.34%). According to our findings, the effect of circumstances on income distribution has intensified between the two years.

Authors: Ana Suárez Álvarez, Ana Jesús López Menéndez.