Equality of Opportunity as a Driver of Prosperity: The Case of Iran
Augusto Lopez-Claros 1 The economic marginalization of women and ethnic, religious, and other minorities is a pervasive problem in virtually every country in the world. There is compelling economic evidence that shows that excluding minorities from the labor force not only undermines the legitimacy of the governments practicing various forms of discrimination but also ends up eroding the competitive potential of the country in an increasingly global and integrated marketplace. Much of the evidence has focused on how unequal treatment before the law and the associated violation of people’s human rights has adversely affected various metrics of human welfare and development. Perhaps the area that has delivered thus far the greatest insights is in respect of gender discrimination. At the World Bank over the past decade we built up a huge database comprehensively listing such discriminations embedded in the legislation of 190 countries and discovered that they are associated...