Economists provide better measurement and assessment tools for study of inequality

A team of scholars who are engaged in researching ways to improve human capital and economic opportunity convened the " Conference on the Study of Inequality " on Monday, June 17, at the University of Chicago Center in Beijing. The conference, which was co-sponsored by the Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group , the University of Chicago Center in Beijing and the China Center for Economic Research at Peking University, kicked off a week of events. "We are committed to this study in China and have brought together foremost scholars and students to train in the best measurement techniques and to help both Western and China-based scholars improve research on inequality," said James Heckman, the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and Director of the Economics Research Center and the Center for Social Program Evaluation at the Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. Heckman opened the conference with welcoming remarks and introduced the six HCEO networks and their goals. "The Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group is dedicated to enhancing research and improving methodology across all fields related to the study of inequality," said Heckman. "Inequality is an extremely broad topic, and HCEO's approach is to foster an understanding of inequality from a broader perspective," he said. "For example, the family inequality network examines the role of the family in producing inequality or creating opportunities for children.