Intergenerational Economic Mobility in the United States, 1940 to 2000
Abstract
We estimate trends in intergenerational economic mobility by matching men in the Census to synthetic parents in the prior generation. We find that mobility increased from 1950 to 1980 but has declined sharply since 1980. While our estimator places greater weight on location effects than the standard intergenerational coefficient, the size of the bias appears to be small. Our preferred results suggest that earnings are regressing to the mean more slowly now than at any time since World War II, causing economic differences between families to become more persistent. However, current rates of positional mobility appear historically normal.Download Info
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Bibliographic Info
Article provided by University of Wisconsin Press in its journal Journal of Human Resources.
Volume (Year): 43 (2008)
Issue (Month): 1 ()
Pages:
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Web page: http://jhr.uwpress.org/
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Citations
Blog mentions
As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:- Stalled upward social mobility in America [UPDATED 2/14/12]
by socialcapital in Social Capital Blog on 2011-11-10 21:34:34
Cited by:
- Natalie Chen & Paola Conconi & Carlo Perroni, 2011.
"Multi-Trait Matching and Intergenerational Mobility: A Cinderella Story,"
Working Papers ECARES
ECARES 2011-029, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
- Chen, Natalie; Conconi, Paola; Perroni, Carlo, 2011. "Multi-Trait Matching and Intergenerational Mobility: A Cinderella Story," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 56, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
- Chen, Natalie & Conconi, Paola & Perroni, Carlo, 2011. "Multi-Trait Matching and Intergenerational Mobility: A Cinderella Story," CEPR Discussion Papers 8605, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
- Quheng, Deng & Gustafsson, Björn Anders & Li, Shi, 2012. "Intergenerational Income Persistency in Urban China," IZA Discussion Papers 6907, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Zhu, Guozhong & Vuralz, Gulfer, 2012. "Inter-generational effect of parental time and its policy implications," MPRA Paper 40670, University Library of Munich, Germany.
- Cervini-Plá, María, 2011. "Intergenerational earnings and income mobility in Spain," MPRA Paper 34942, University Library of Munich, Germany.
- William Nilsson, 2013. "Estimating Nonlinear Intergenerational Income Mobility with Correlation Curves," DEA Working Papers 57, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Departament d'Economía Aplicada.
- Gouskova, Elena & Chiteji, Ngina & Stafford, Frank, 2010. "Estimating the intergenerational persistence of lifetime earnings with life course matching: Evidence from the PSID," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 592-597, June.
- Orsetta Causa & Catherine Chapuis, 2009. "Equity in Student Achievement Across OECD Countries: An Investigation of the Role of Policies," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 708, OECD Publishing.
- Lefranc, Arnaud & Ojima, Fumiaki & Yoshida, Takashi, 2012.
"Intergenerational Earnings Mobility in Japan among Sons and Daughters: Levels and Trends,"
IZA Discussion Papers
7045, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Arnaud Lefranc & Fumiaki Ojima & Takashi Yoshida, 2011. "Intergenerational earnings mobility in Japan among sons and daughters : levels and trends," THEMA Working Papers 2011-10, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise.
- Corak, Miles & Curtis, Lori & Phipps, Shelley, 2010. "Economic Mobility, Family Background, and the Well-Being of Children in the United States and Canada," IZA Discussion Papers 4814, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
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