IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/dem/demres/v48y2023i25.html

Educational reproduction in Sweden: A replication of Skopek and Leopold 2020 using Swedish data

Author

Listed:
  • Vanessa Wittemann

    (Universität zu Köln)

Abstract

Background: Intergenerational social mobility, or the inheritance of status characteristics, is well-studied in Sweden. However, it accounts for just one aspect of the process of intergenerational reproduction of social inequality. The role of socially stratified fertility in this process remains underexplored. Objective: I address the gap in knowledge by replicating the approach pioneered by Skopek and Leopold (2020) in the context of Germany in order to study the relative contributions of the mobility component vis-à-vis the fertility component in the educational reproduction of Swedish cohorts born between 1930 and 1950. Methods: The approach involves estimating several components of a stylized population renewal model using retrospective data and performing counterfactual simulations. I utilize data from the Swedish samples of the Generations and Gender Survey, the European Social Survey, and the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe. Results: My findings for Sweden reveal a relatively strong degree of intergenerational transmission of educational attainment, increasing for men and decreasing for women, coupled with an overall weak but stable educational gradient in fertility. Educational reproduction in Sweden is thus mostly driven by the mobility component. Contribution: This is the first study to obtain prospective estimates of educational reproduction based on retrospective data and to explore the relative role of mobility vis-à-vis fertility in the process of intergenerational reproduction of social inequality in Sweden.

Suggested Citation

  • Vanessa Wittemann, 2023. "Educational reproduction in Sweden: A replication of Skopek and Leopold 2020 using Swedish data," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 48(25), pages 733-774.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:48:y:2023:i:25
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2023.48.25
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol48/25/48-25.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.4054/DemRes.2023.48.25?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Martin Dribe & Francesco Scalone, 2014. "Social class and net fertility before, during, and after the demographic transition: A micro-level analysis of Sweden 1880-1970," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 30(15), pages 429-464.
    2. Hällsten, Martin & Pfeffer, Fabian T., 2017. "Grand advantage: family wealth and grandchildren's educational achievement in Sweden," Working Paper Series 2017:3, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    3. Jo Blanden, 2013. "Cross-Country Rankings In Intergenerational Mobility: A Comparison Of Approaches From Economics And Sociology," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 38-73, February.
    4. Martin Kolk & Martin Hällsten, 2017. "Demographic and Educational Success of Lineages in Northern Sweden," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 43(3), pages 491-512, September.
    5. Blanden, Jo, 2013. "Cross-national rankings of intergenerational mobility: a comparison of approaches from economics and sociology," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 59310, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Martin Dribe & Jan Van Bavel & Cameron Campbell, 2012. "Social mobility and demographic behaviour: Long term perspectives," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 26(8), pages 173-190.
    7. Marika Jalovaara & Gerda Neyer & Gunnar Andersson & Johan Dahlberg & Lars Dommermuth & Peter Fallesen & Trude Lappegård, 2019. "Education, Gender, and Cohort Fertility in the Nordic Countries," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 35(3), pages 563-586, July.
    8. Jessica Nisén & Sebastian Klüsener & Johan Dahlberg & Lars Dommermuth & Aiva Jasilioniene & Michaela Kreyenfeld & Trude Lappegård & Peng Li & Pekka Martikainen & Karel Neels & Bernhard Riederer & Sask, 2021. "Educational Differences in Cohort Fertility Across Sub-national Regions in Europe," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 37(1), pages 263-295, March.
    9. Dribe, Martin & Helgertz, Jonas, 2016. "The Lasting Impact of Grandfathers: Class, Occupational Status, and Earnings over Three Generations in Sweden 1815–2011," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 76(4), pages 969-1000, December.
    10. Hertz Tom & Jayasundera Tamara & Piraino Patrizio & Selcuk Sibel & Smith Nicole & Verashchagina Alina, 2008. "The Inheritance of Educational Inequality: International Comparisons and Fifty-Year Trends," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 7(2), pages 1-48, January.
    11. Van Der Weide,Roy & Lakner,Christoph & Mahler,Daniel Gerszon & Narayan,Ambar & Nichanametla Ramasubbaiah,Rakesh Gupta, 2021. "Intergenerational Mobility around the World," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9707, The World Bank.
    12. Jan M. Hoem, 2005. "Why does Sweden have such high fertility?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 13(22), pages 559-572.
    13. Jan M. Hoem, 2005. "Why does Sweden have such high fertility?," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2005-009, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    14. Judith Blake, 1981. "Family size and the quality of children," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 18(4), pages 421-442, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jiawei Wu & Guillaume Marois, 2024. "Education Policies and Intergenerational Educational Mobility in China: New Evidence for the 1986–95 Birth Cohort," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 43(3), pages 1-12, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andrea Del Pizzo & Martin Nybom & Jan Stuhler, 2026. "Indirect Estimators of Intergenerational Mobility," RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series 26137, ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin).
    2. Azam Mehtabul, 2016. "Intergenerational Educational Persistence among Daughters: Evidence from India," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 16(4), pages 1-16, October.
    3. Guido Neidhöfer, 2019. "Intergenerational mobility and the rise and fall of inequality: Lessons from Latin America," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 17(4), pages 499-520, December.
    4. Anna Baranowska-Rataj & Xavier de Luna & Anneli Ivarsson, 2016. "Does the number of siblings affect health in midlife? Evidence from the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 35(43), pages 1259-1302.
    5. Ayca Akarcay-Gurbuz & Sezgin Polat, 2015. "The rocky road to post-compulsory education in Turkey: Intergenerational educational mobility," Koç University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum Working Papers 1510, Koc University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum.
    6. Nora Lustig & Valentina Martinez Pabon & Guido Neidhöfer & Mariano Tommasi, 2020. "Short and Long-Run Distributional Impacts of COVID-19 in Latin America," Working Papers 2013, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    7. Raitano Michele & Vona Francesco, 2018. "From the Cradle to the Grave: The Influence of Family Background on the Career Path of Italian Men," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 80(6), pages 1062-1088, December.
    8. Yoko Niimi, 2018. "Do borrowing constraints matter for intergenerational educational mobility? Evidence from Japan," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(4), pages 628-656, October.
    9. Nawazuddin Ahmed & Dinesh K. Nauriyal, 2023. "Occupational and Educational Mobility Among Indian Muslims: Primary Survey-Based Evidence," Millennial Asia, , vol. 14(2), pages 228-259, June.
    10. Guido Neidhöfer & Matías Ciaschi & Leonardo Gasparini, 2022. "Economic Mobility in Latin America: Beyond Education, Stagnant Intergenerational Persistence of Socio-Economic Status," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0303, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    11. Tharcisio Leone, 2019. "Intergenerational Mobility in Education: Estimates of the Worldwide Variation," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 44(4), pages 1-42, December.
    12. 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.
    13. Tharcisio Leone, 2022. "The geography of intergenerational mobility: Evidence of educational persistence and the “Great Gatsby Curve” in Brazil," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 1227-1251, August.
    14. Brezis, Elise S. & Hellier, Joël, 2018. "Social mobility at the top and the higher education system," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 36-54.
    15. Bühler Jonas & Erhardt Tamara & Häner-Müller Melanie & Schaltegger Christoph A., 2025. "Ist Blut dicker als Wasser? Wie die Familie den sozialen Aufstieg beeinflusst," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 26(1), pages 62-79.
    16. Lekfuangfu, Warn N. & Odermatt, Reto, 2022. "All I have to do is dream? The role of aspirations in intergenerational mobility and well-being," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    17. Christian Dudel & Sebastian Klüsener, 2019. "New opportunities for comparative male fertility research: insights from a new data resource based on high-quality birth registers," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2019-023, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    18. Francesco Bloise & Michele Raitano, 2019. "Intergenerational earnings elasticity of actual father-son pairs in Italy accounting for lifecycle and attenuation bias," Working Papers 504, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    19. Dudel, Christian & Klüsener, Sebastian, 2019. "New opportunities for comparative male fertility research: Insights from a new data resource based on high-quality birth registers," SocArXiv 8kqws, Center for Open Science.
    20. Tharcisio Leone, 2019. "The Geography of Intergenerational Mobility: Evidence of Educational Persistence and the “Great Gatsby Curve" in Brazil," Documentos de Trabajo 17526, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (LACEA).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:48:y:2023:i:25. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Editorial Office (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.demogr.mpg.de/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.