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The Intergenerational Dynamics of Social Inequality: Empirical Evidence from Europe and the United States

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  • Veronika V. Eberharter

Abstract

Based on nationally representative data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), and the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) we analyze the intergenerational transmission of economic and social (dis-)advantages in Germany, the United States and Great Britain. We test with the hypotheses that the extent and the determinants of intergenerational income mobility and the relative risk of poverty differ with respect to the existing welfare state regime, family role patterns, and social policy design. The empirical results indicate a higher intergenerational income elasticity in the United States than in Germany and Great Britain, and country differences concerning the influence of individual and parental socio-economic characteristics, and social exclusion attributes on intergenerational income mobility and the relative risk of poverty.

Suggested Citation

  • Veronika V. Eberharter, 2013. "The Intergenerational Dynamics of Social Inequality: Empirical Evidence from Europe and the United States," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 588, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp588
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    Cited by:

    1. Markus Jäntti & Stephen P. Jenkins, 2013. "Income Mobility," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 607, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    2. Dodin, Majed & Findeisen, Sebastian & Henkel, Lukas & Sachs, Dominik & Schüle, Paul, 2021. "Social Mobility in Germany," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 298, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    3. Irene Brunetti & Davide Fiaschi, 2015. "Occupational Mobility across Generations: a Theoretical Model with an Application to Italy," Discussion Papers 2015/205, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    4. Mukaramah Harun, 2020. "Determinants of Social-economic Mobility in the Northern Region of Malaysia," Papers 2001.03043, arXiv.org.
    5. Paul Hufe & Andreas Peichl & Daniel Weishaar, 2018. "Intergenerational Income Stability: Is Germany Lagging Behind?," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 71(20), pages 20-28, October.
    6. Bhashkar Mazumder, 2018. "Intergenerational Mobility in the United States: What We Have Learned from the PSID," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 680(1), pages 213-234, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social and economic inequality; intergenerational income mobility; poverty; social exclusion;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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