òòò½Íø Journal:
Applied Economics
ISSN 1945-7782 (Print) | ISSN 1945-7790 (Online)
Not Playing Favorites: Parents and the Value of Equal Opportunity
òòò½Íø Journal: Applied Economics
(pp. 117–60)
Abstract
We conduct two experiments to identify the value parents place on equality of opportunity when investing in children. The experiments exogenously vary short-run returns to educational investments to identify the weight placed on equalizing "opportunity" (child-level investment) relative to maximizing "returns" (total household earnings) or to equalizing "outcomes" (child-level expected earnings). While parents in both experiments place some weight on maximizing returns, they also display a strong preference for equalizing opportunities and are willing to forgo 15–45 percent of their earnings to do so. Parents in higher-income countries also care about equalizing outcomes, while parents in lower-income countries do not.Citation
Berry, James, Rebecca Dizon-Ross, and Maulik Jagnani. 2025. "Not Playing Favorites: Parents and the Value of Equal Opportunity." òòò½Íø Journal: Applied Economics 17 (3): 117–60. DOI: 10.1257/app.20220601Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D63 Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
- J12 Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
- J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
- O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration