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Partial Identification of Economic Mobility: With an Application to the United States

Author

Listed:
  • Millimet, Daniel L.

    (Southern Methodist University)

  • Li, Hao

    (Nanjing Audit University)

  • Roychowdhury, Punarjit

    (Indian Institute of Management)

Abstract

The economic mobility of individuals and households is of fundamental interest. While many measures of economic mobility exist, reliance on transition matrices remains pervasive due to simplicity and ease of interpretation. However, estimation of transition matrices is complicated by the well-acknowledged problem of measurement error in self-reported and even administrative data. Existing methods of addressing measurement error are complex, rely on numerous strong assumptions, and often require data from more than two periods. In this paper, we investigate what can be learned about economic mobility as measured via transition matrices while formally accounting for measurement error in a reasonably trans- parent manner. To do so, we develop a nonparametric partial identification approach to bound transition probabilities under various assumptions on the measurement error and mobility processes. This approach is applied to panel data from the United States to explore short-run mobility before and after the Great Recession.

Suggested Citation

  • Millimet, Daniel L. & Li, Hao & Roychowdhury, Punarjit, 2019. "Partial Identification of Economic Mobility: With an Application to the United States," IZA Discussion Papers 12085, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12085
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    Cited by:

    1. Li, Hao & Millimet, Daniel L. & Roychowdhury, Punarjit, 2019. "Measuring Economic Mobility in India Using Noisy Data: A Partial Identification Approach," IZA Discussion Papers 12505, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Ding Liu & Daniel L. Millimet, 2021. "Bounding the joint distribution of disability and employment with misclassification," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(7), pages 1628-1647, July.
    3. Brantly Callaway & Tong Li & Irina Murtazashvili, 2021. "Nonlinear Approaches to Intergenerational Income Mobility allowing for Measurement Error," Papers 2107.09235, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2021.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    partial identification; measurement error; mobility; transition matrices; poverty;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C18 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Methodolical Issues: General
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

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