Uploaded August 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
What is the Memberships Theory of Inequality?
In this fifth episode of #EconomicsOfChildhood, Professor Durlauf defines his preferred theory when thinking about mobility. The Memberships Theory of Inequality is the idea that an individuals’ beliefs, preferences, and opportunities are conditioned by their membership to different social identities (ethnicity, gender, religion, etc.). Then, over time, memberships evolve in response to interactions with one another. Finally, what results is persistent inequality and poverty for individuals in some membership groups and not in others. In other words, economic segregation is the key determinant to persistent inequality, and economic inequality generates further segregation.
Overall, the three key takeaways from Durlauf’s Memberships Theory of Inequality are:
1) Social outcomes are determined by beliefs, preferences & opportunities
2) These factors provide the conditions of economic segregation
3) The interaction between one and two
Learn more at economicsofchildhood.org
Produced by Matthew Kulvicki, Nick Alpha & Kurt Semm
What is the Memberships Theory of Inequality?
In this fifth episode of #EconomicsOfChildhood, Professor Durlauf defines his preferred theory when thinking about mobility. The Memberships Theory of Inequality is the idea that an individuals’ beliefs, preferences, and opportunities are conditioned by their membership to different social identities (ethnicity, gender, religion, etc.). Then, over time, memberships evolve in response to interactions with one another. Finally, what results is persistent inequality and poverty for individuals in some membership groups and not in others. In other words, economic segregation is the key determinant to persistent inequality, and economic inequality generates further segregation.
Overall, the three key takeaways from Durlauf’s Memberships Theory of Inequality are:
1) Social outcomes are determined by beliefs, preferences & opportunities
2) These factors provide the conditions of economic segregation
3) The interaction between one and two
Learn more at economicsofchildhood.org
Produced by Matthew Kulvicki, Nick Alpha & Kurt Semm
