Did Progresa Reduce Inequality of Opportunity for School Reenrollment?

Abstract

The school reenrollment probability conditional on a child’s circumstances (gender, indigenous origin, and family background) is our measure of a child’s school reenrollment opportunity. For children who completed grades 1–6, we use generalized Lorenz and Lorenz dominance to show that Progresa improved aggregate opportunities and reduced inequality of opportunity. Moreover, using the human opportunity index—or, alternatively, a Gini opportunity aggregator—we show that the decrease in inequality of opportunity accounts for about 15%–40% of the total effect of the program on aggregate opportunities.