EX‐ANTE AND EX‐POST MEASUREMENT OF EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY IN HEALTH: A NORMATIVE DECOMPOSITION

ABSTRACT This paper proposes and discusses two different approaches to the definition of inequality in health: the ex‐ante and the ex‐post approach. It proposes strategies for measuring inequality of opportunity in health based on the path‐independent Atkinson equality index. The proposed methodology is illustrated using data from the British Household Panel Survey; the results suggest that in the period 2000–2005, at least one‐third of the observed health equalities in the UK were equalities of opportunity. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.