El próximo seminario de investigación del Departamento de Economía tendrá lugar el martes 8 de abril a las 14h en el aula 2.7. La información del seminario y del ponente es la siguiente:  

Título de la presentación: Where you are born matters: Inequality of Opportunities and Intergenerational Mobility Across Colombia’s Territory

Autores: Juan Manuel Monroy y María Eugenia Dávalos (Banco Mundial)

Lugar: Aula 2.7, a las 14h.

Resumen:

The circumstances into which individuals are born are beyond their control but play a significant role in shaping their economic opportunities, making them key drivers of inequality and its persistence over time. Territorial disparities further exacerbate inequality by influencing differences in opportunities and intergenerational mobility. Therefore, understanding the role of place of birth is essential to understanding inequality of opportunities and social mobility, both of which directly affect overall inequality. Using machine learning techniques and data from Colombia, the most unequal country in Latin America and the Caribbean, we estimate inequality of opportunity and intergenerational education mobility indexes, incorporating place of birth and more granular findings to capture the extent of regional disparities. Our findings show that 49 percent of the Gini income inequality is explained by circumstances at birth, and place of birth accounts for nearly 52 percent of the inequalities in lifetime income opportunities. Moreover, parents’ socio-economic background, particularly their education level, explains 54% of intergenerational mobility. Inter-generational mobility measures at the department (province)-level also reveal striking disparities in opportunities across the country. These findings underscore the critical role of place of birth and parental background in perpetuating inequality, providing important insights for policies aimed at promoting social mobility and reducing territorial disparities.