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Where in the World are you? Assessing the Importance of Circumstance and Effort in a World of Different Mean Country Incomes and (Almost) No Migration

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dc.contributor.authorMilanovic, Branko
dc.date.accessioned2012-05-24T21:10:24Z
dc.date.available2012-05-24T21:10:24Z
dc.date.issued2008-01
dc.description.abstractSuppose that all people in the world are allocated only two characteristics: country where they live and income class within that country. Assume further that there is no migration. This paper shows that 90 percent of variability in people's global income position (percentile in world income distribution) is explained by only these two pieces of information. Mean country income (circumstance) explains 60 percent, and income class (both circumstance and effort) 30 percent of global income position. The author finds that about two-thirds of the latter number is due to circumstance (approximated by the estimated parental income class under various social mobility assumptions), which makes the overall share of circumstance unlikely to be less than 75-80 percent. On average, "drawing" one-notch higher income class (on a twenty-class scale) is equivalent to living in a 12 percent richer country. Once people are allocated their income class, it becomes important, not only whether the country they are allocated to is rich or poor, but whether it is egalitarian or not. This is particularly important for the people who "draw" low or high classes; for the middle classes, the country's income distribution is much less important than mean country income.en
dc.identifierhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/01/8969542/world-assessing-importance-circumstance-effort-world-different-mean-country-incomes-almost-no-migration-vol-1-1
dc.identifier.doi10.1596/1813-9450-4493
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10986/6391
dc.languageEnglish
dc.publisherWorld Bank, Washington, DC
dc.relation.ispartofseriesPolicy Research Working Paper; No. 4493
dc.rightsCC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holderWorld Bank
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/
dc.subjectABSOLUTE VALUE
dc.subjectAVERAGE INCOME
dc.subjectAVERAGE SHARE
dc.subjectBENCHMARK
dc.subjectCONSUMER PRICE INDEX
dc.subjectCORRELATION COEFFICIENT
dc.subjectCORRELATION COEFFICIENTS
dc.subjectCOUNTRY CHARACTERISTICS
dc.subjectCOUNTRY OBSERVATIONS
dc.subjectCUMULATIVE DISTRIBUTION
dc.subjectDEPENDENT VARIABLE
dc.subjectDEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE
dc.subjectDISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS
dc.subjectDISTRIBUTION OF INCOME
dc.subjectECONOMETRICS
dc.subjectECONOMIC ANALYSIS
dc.subjectECONOMIC GROWTH
dc.subjectECONOMIC INEQUALITY
dc.subjectECONOMIC PERFORMANCE
dc.subjectECONOMIC POLICY
dc.subjectECONOMIC REVIEW
dc.subjectELASTICITY
dc.subjectEMPIRICAL ANALYSIS
dc.subjectEQUAL COUNTRIES
dc.subjectEXCHANGE RATES
dc.subjectGINI COEFFICIENT
dc.subjectGINI COEFFICIENTS
dc.subjectGINI INDEX
dc.subjectGROSS DOMESTIC INCOME
dc.subjectHIGH INCOME
dc.subjectHOUSEHOLD SURVEYS
dc.subjectINCOME
dc.subjectINCOME DIFFERENCES
dc.subjectINCOME DISTRIBUTION
dc.subjectINCOME DISTRIBUTION DATA
dc.subjectINCOME DISTRIBUTIONS
dc.subjectINCOME EFFECT
dc.subjectINCOME GROUP
dc.subjectINCOME GROUPS
dc.subjectINCOME INEQUALITY
dc.subjectINCOME LEVEL
dc.subjectINCOME LEVELS
dc.subjectINCOME SCALE
dc.subjectINCOME SHARES
dc.subjectINCOMES
dc.subjectINEQUALITY
dc.subjectINEQUALITY MEASURE
dc.subjectINTERGENERATIONAL MOBILITY
dc.subjectLABOR MARKET
dc.subjectLORENZ CURVE
dc.subjectLORENZ CURVES
dc.subjectLOTTERY
dc.subjectLOW INCOME
dc.subjectMEAN INCOME
dc.subjectMEAN INCOMES
dc.subjectMEAN LOG DEVIATION
dc.subjectMEASUREMENT ERROR
dc.subjectMEDIAN POSITION
dc.subjectMIDDLE CLASS
dc.subjectMILLION PEOPLE
dc.subjectNATIONAL INCOME
dc.subjectNORMAL DISTRIBUTION
dc.subjectORDER DOMINANCE
dc.subjectPER CAPITA INCOME
dc.subjectPOLICY RESEARCH
dc.subjectPOLITICAL ECONOMY
dc.subjectPOOR COUNTRY
dc.subjectPOOR PEOPLE
dc.subjectPOOR PERSON
dc.subjectPUBLIC ECONOMICS
dc.subjectPUBLIC GOOD
dc.subjectRELATIVE IMPORTANCE
dc.subjectRELATIVE INCOME
dc.subjectRELATIVE POSITION
dc.subjectSIMULATIONS
dc.subjectSOCIAL MOBILITY
dc.subjectTAXATION
dc.subjectWAGES
dc.subjectWEALTH
dc.subjectWESTERN EUROPE
dc.titleWhere in the World are you? Assessing the Importance of Circumstance and Effort in a World of Different Mean Country Incomes and (Almost) No Migrationen
dspace.entity.typePublication
okr.crossref.titleWhere In The World Are You? Assessing The Importance Of Circumstance And Effort In A World Of Different Mean Country Incomes And (Almost) No Migration, Volume 1 Of 1
okr.date.doiregistration2025-04-10T09:38:20.414835Z
okr.doctypePublications & Research::Policy Research Working Paper
okr.doctypePublications & Research
okr.docurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/01/8969542/world-assessing-importance-circumstance-effort-world-different-mean-country-incomes-almost-no-migration-vol-1-1
okr.globalpracticeMacroeconomics and Fiscal Management
okr.globalpracticePoverty
okr.guid420741468159331384
okr.identifier.doi10.1596/1813-9450-4493
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum000158349_20080128112203
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum8969542
okr.identifier.reportWPS4493
okr.language.supporteden
okr.pdfurlhttp://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2008/01/28/000158349_20080128112203/Rendered/PDF/wps4493.pdfen
okr.topicEconomic Theory and Research
okr.topicPoverty Reduction::Poverty Impact Evaluation
okr.topicMacroeconomics and Economic Growth::Income
okr.topicPoverty Reduction::Poverty Diagnostics
okr.topicPoverty Reduction::Inequality
okr.unitDevelopment Research Group (DECRG)
okr.volume1 of 1
relation.isAuthorOfPublicationef885098-1480-5065-99a0-202312d457c2
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscoveryef885098-1480-5065-99a0-202312d457c2
relation.isSeriesOfPublication26e071dc-b0bf-409c-b982-df2970295c87
relation.isSeriesOfPublication.latestForDiscovery26e071dc-b0bf-409c-b982-df2970295c87
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