Publication:
The Power and Roots of Aspirations

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dc.contributor.authorFruttero, Anna
dc.contributor.authorMuller, Noel
dc.contributor.authorCalvo-González, Óscar
dc.date.accessioned2025-01-24T19:18:37Z
dc.date.available2025-01-24T19:18:37Z
dc.date.issued2025-01-24
dc.description.abstractAspirations have become a common theme in empirical economics studies but there is no unified understanding of the range of outcomes they influence, the factors that shape them, and how to measure them. We survey this growing literature. We argue that there is compelling evidence to consider aspirations as a useful lens to analyze human behavior and development outcomes, at the individual and aggregate levels, in poorer and richer countries. The empirical evidence aligns with the theory that high aspirations can lead individuals to achieve better educational, labor market, and other outcomes and can contribute to making countries more equal and prosperous. The empirical evidence also confirms that the mix of social and circumstantial factors shaping aspirations tends to hinder the aspirations of the disadvantaged—such as the poor, immigrants, and women—and can contribute to vicious circles of poverty, high inequality, low social mobility, and low growth. However, high aspirations should not be considered an end in themselves as they can backfire, with deleterious effects, if unmatched with opportunities. Further, we argue that definitional and measurement issues can affect the understanding of the topic and that studies should more explicitly describe their measures of aspirations to ensure that divergent underlying concepts are not mistaken.en
dc.identifier.citationThe World Bank Research Observer
dc.identifier.doi10.1093/wbro/lkae004
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1596/42723
dc.identifier.issn0257-3032
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10986/42723
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherPublished by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank
dc.relation.ispartofseriesWorld Bank Research Observer
dc.rightsCC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holderWorld Bank
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/
dc.subjectHUMAN CAPITAL
dc.subjectASPIRATIONS
dc.subjectEDUCATION
dc.subjectLABOR MARKET
dc.subjectOCCUPATIONAL CHOICE
dc.titleThe Power and Roots of Aspirationsen
dc.typeJournal Article
dspace.entity.typePublication
okr.associatedcontenthttps://academic.oup.com/wbro/article/40/1/58/7668017 Journal website (version of record)
okr.date.disclosure2025-01-24
okr.date.doiregistration2025-04-14T11:56:59.131177Z
okr.doctypePublications & Research
okr.doctypePublications & Research::Journal Article
okr.identifier.doi10.1093/wbro/lkae004
okr.pagenumber58-103
okr.peerreviewAcademic Peer Review
okr.region.geographicalWorld
okr.topicSocial Development::Community Development and Empowerment
okr.topicSocial Development::Social Analysis
okr.volume40(1)
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