Inequality of opportunity in income and consumption : the Middle East and North Africa Region in comparative perspective

Abstract EN

Social justice has been a central theme in the political turmoil affecting the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Perplexingly, standard measures of inequality are not particularly high for MENA countries.

One possible explanation for this apparent contradiction is that observed inequality may be masking a large share of inequality of opportunity, the unjustifiable type of inequality associated with social class or other circumstances over which an individual has no control.

In this paper we extend the literature on inequality of opportunity in the MENA region by providing estimates of inequality of opportunity in incomes and consumption for Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia.

Our results show low levels of inequality of opportunity, as well as inequality, in income measures in the countries examined.