Cumulative (Dis)Advantage and the Matthew Effect in Life-Course Analysis.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Bask M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4659671 | biostudies-other | 2015
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
Publications
Cumulative (Dis)Advantage and the Matthew Effect in Life-Course Analysis.
PloS one 20151125 11
To foster a deeper understanding of the mechanisms behind inequality in society, it is crucial to work with well-defined concepts associated with such mechanisms. The aim of this paper is to define cumulative (dis)advantage and the Matthew effect. We argue that cumulative (dis)advantage is an intra-individual micro-level phenomenon, that the Matthew effect is an inter-individual macro-level phenomenon and that an appropriate measure of the Matthew effect focuses on the mechanism or dynamic proce ...[more]
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