Decomposing Inequality of Opportunity in Immunization by Circumstances: Evidence from India

This article examines inequality of opportunity in immunization for Indian children. We also decompose the inequality by circumstances using the Shapley decomposition method. This method provides the contribution of each circumstance variable to the total inequality of opportunity. For this analysis, we use the District Level Health Survey for 2002-2004 and 2007-2008. The data sets provide information on immunization, household characteristics and availability of health care facilities in villages. Using this information we are able to understand the relative contributions of family background and supply-side circumstances to inequality of opportunity. We find that the household's economic background, parental education and regional variations are the most important contributors to inequality of opportunity.