«A Land of Unequal Chances: Social Mobility and Inequality of Opportunity Across Mexican Regions»

Using the ESRU-EMOVI 2017, we estimate the patterns of social mobility in Mexico and its regions, contributing to the growing literature on regional social mobility patterns. We identify that although Mexico is a country with high levels of intergenerational rank persistence, thus low levels of social mobility, there is substantial variability across its regions. While 35 out of 100 individuals born in the bottom aukntile of the household asset distribution and in the South of the country experience upward mobility, twice as large a proportion of those born in the bottom aukntile but in Mexico City experience the same type of mobility. Controlling for multiple characteristics at the household and neighborhood levels, We find a penalty of 12 percentiles in terms of upward mobility against individuals born in the South, with respect the rest of the country, and a boost of 10 percentiles for those with origin in Mexico City.