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America’s Rise in Human Capital Mobility

Author

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  • Lukas Althoff
  • Harriet Brookes Gray
  • Hugo Reichardt

Abstract

How did the US become a land of opportunity? We show that the country’s pioneering role in mass education was key. Unlike previous research, which has focused on father-son income correlations, we incorporate both parents in a new measure of intergenerational mobility that considers multiple inputs, including mothers’ and fathers’ human capital. To estimate mobility despite limitations in historical data, we introduce a latent variable method and construct a representative linked panel that includes women. Our findings reveal that human capital mobility rose sharply from 1850 to 1950, driven by a declining reliance on maternal human capital, which had been most predictive of child outcomes before widespread schooling. Broadening schooling weakened this reliance on mothers, raising mobility in both human capital and income over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Lukas Althoff & Harriet Brookes Gray & Hugo Reichardt, 2025. "America’s Rise in Human Capital Mobility," CESifo Working Paper Series 11729, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11729
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kasey Buckles & Adrian Haws & Joseph Price & Haley E.B. Wilbert, 2023. "Breakthroughs in Historical Record Linking Using Genealogy Data: The Census Tree Project," NBER Working Papers 31671, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Kévin Fourrey, 2023. "A Regression-Based Shapley Decomposition for Inequality Measures," Post-Print hal-04083219, HAL.
    3. Saavedra, Martin & Twinam, Tate, 2020. "A machine learning approach to improving occupational income scores," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Keywords

    intergenerational mobility; human capital; economic history;
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