This thesis considers how informational imperfections may give rise to advantages for those born to relatively rich parents. The first chapter focuses on the separation of some societies into different classes. Within the model, classes provide greater advantages to those from privileged backgrounds and, even in the absence of legal barriers preventing the lower classes from accessing skilled jobs, the skilled amongst them are still de facto denied access to high paying jobs through statistical discrimination. This chapter shows that there can be a net benefit from class discrimination, versus a classless state, when it creates information relating to the abilities of the upper class. This theme is expanded on in chapter two where a signalling model more explicitly describes the statistical discrimination suffered by some members of society. The advantage conferred on those from privileged backgrounds generates income dispersion, which in turn reinforces the advantages of the rich. If this feedback is strong enough, the model may exhibit multiplicity of steady states. This multiplicity of steady states is backward looking: the income dispersion today depends on the extent to which firms use the information available to them, which in turn depends on the income dispersion in the previous generation. The model of chapter two also demonstrates why societies with more "meritocratic" institutions may exhibit less intergenerational income mobility: the income dispersion that meritocracy creates increases the value of a privileged upbringing. The final chapter adds parental investment to the model. In doing so it brings the model more squarely in line with the statistical discrimination literature, although the model does not exhibit a multiplicity of equilibria. There is a unique optimal investment rule for parents. Exogenous shocks to meritocracy are again examined. Meritocracy increases income variance and hence, from behind the veil of ignorance, creates greater uncertainty over the income an individual will receive. The model describes how a risk averse person might prefer to be born into an economy where they expect to be poorer but avoid this increased uncertainty, and so despite raising incomes, meritocracy may make agents, on average, more unhappy.

<p>Symbolic resources transform in to social power and material resources through the educational system. This entails that all students should have equal access to it.</p><p>The essay compares Swedish didactics in “immigrant” and “white” schools, all situated in socio-economically underprivileged areas, analysing interviews with eight Swedish teachers about their didactics regarding restricted and elaborated language code.</p><p>Understanding teacher’s work in the class room requires attention to the intersections between race and class, and of both to the distribution of symbolic resources in general.</p><p>The essay finds that the practice of the” immigrant” school teachers differs from the “white” school teachers’. The former are active, providing intellectual tools, scaffolding and driving force while the later choose a more passive attitude, letting students decide for themselves what to do and what goals to reach. Consequently “white” schools allow the reproduction of unequal distribution of symbolic resources while practice in immigrant schools aim to compensate for disadvantages.</p><p>Practice seems to win legitimacy by different sets of conceptualisations. Immigrant students are envisaged like persons in need of help with low self-esteem and low drive. “White” students are looked upon as self-sufficient hedonists with a “natural” language competence.</p>

Symbolic resources transform in to social power and material resources through the educational system. This entails that all students should have equal access to it. The essay compares Swedish didactics in “immigrant” and “white” schools, all situated in socio-economically underprivileged areas, analysing interviews with eight Swedish teachers about their didactics regarding restricted and elaborated language code. Understanding teacher’s work in the class room requires attention to the intersections between race and class, and of both to the distribution of symbolic resources in general. The essay finds that the practice of the” immigrant” school teachers differs from the “white” school teachers’. The former are active, providing intellectual tools, scaffolding and driving force while the later choose a more passive attitude, letting students decide for themselves what to do and what goals to reach. Consequently “white” schools allow the reproduction of unequal distribution of symbolic resources while practice in immigrant schools aim to compensate for disadvantages. Practice seems to win legitimacy by different sets of conceptualisations. Immigrant students are envisaged like persons in need of help with low self-esteem and low drive. “White” students are looked upon as self-sufficient hedonists with a “natural” language competence.

Background: The current study examines the association of perceived racial and social class discrimination with cannabis involvement among Black youth and young adults. Methods: This secondary analysis used data from the Missouri Family Study (MOFAM), a high-risk longitudinal family study of alcohol use disorder, oversampled for Black families. Offspring (n = 806) and their mothers were interviewed by telephone. Cox proportional hazards regression analyzes were used to examine associations of racial and social class discrimination (experienced by offspring and their mothers) with offspring cannabis involvement. Two stages of cannabis involvement were analyzed: timing of 1) initiation and 2) transition from initiation to first cannabis use disorder (CUD) symptom. Results: The study found that offspring report of experiencing racial (HR: 1.28, CI: 1.01–1.62) and social class discrimination (HR: 1.45, CI: 1.14–1.84) were associated with cannabis initiation in our fully adjusted model. Mothers’ report of discrimination predicted a lower hazard of cannabis initiation among offspring (HR: 0.79, CI: 0.64–0.98). Offspring social class discrimination (HR: 2.45, CI: 1.71–3.51) predicted an increased hazard of transition from initiation to first CUD symptom, while offspring racial discrimination (HR: 0.57, CI: 0.39–0.85) was associated with lower hazard of transition in our fully adjusted model. Conclusions: As rates for cannabis use among Black youth are disproportionately rising, there is a critical need to identify pathways to its use among Black youth. These findings suggest racial and social class discrimination may be important targets in efforts to prevent cannabis involvement among Black youth and emerging adults.