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Measuring Upward Mobility

Author

Listed:
  • Ray, Debraj
  • Genicot, Garance

Abstract

We develop a measure of upward mobility that distills central features of the relative and absolute approaches to measuring mobility. The former is embodied in the Growth Progressivity axiom: transfers of instantaneous growth rates from relatively rich to poor individuals increases upward mobility. The latter is embodied in the Growth Alignment axiom: mobility increases with higher growth for all individuals. These axioms, along with standard auxiliary restrictions, identify a simple one-parameter family of upward mobility measures, linear in individual growth rates and exhibiting geometrically declining weights on baseline incomes. A serendipitous implication of our measure is that it does not rely on panel data, which greatly expands our analytical scope to data-poor settings.

Suggested Citation

  • Ray, Debraj & Genicot, Garance, 2022. "Measuring Upward Mobility," CEPR Discussion Papers 17051, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:17051
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    2. Ferreira, Francisco H. G. & Brunori, Paolo & Neidhöfer, Guido & Salas-Rojo, Pedro & Sirugue, Louis, 2025. "Inherited inequality in Latin America," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 130163, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Bharatee Bhusana Dash & Stanley L. Winer, 2025. "Inequality, Social Mobility and Convergence: Patterns Across the Indian States," CESifo Working Paper Series 12014, CESifo.
    4. Frank A. Cowell & Emmanuel Flachaire, 2025. "Mobility and Mobility Measures," Papers 2502.19608, arXiv.org.
    5. Marcello D’Amato & Christian Di Pietro & Marco M. Sorge, 2024. "Left and right: a tale of two tails of the wealth distribution," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 78(4), pages 1389-1433, December.
    6. John H.Y. Edwards, 2024. "Education Quality, Income Inequality, and Female Labor Force Participation in Brazil," Working Papers 2409, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    7. Ganesh Karapakula, 2022. "An Axiomatic Framework for Cost-Benefit Analysis," Papers 2207.13033, arXiv.org.
    8. Elvisa Drishti & Zamira Shkreli & Edvin Zhllima & Blendi Gerdoçi, 2023. "Deprivation, Social Mobility Considerations, and Life Satisfaction: A Comparative Study of 33 European Countries," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 65(3), pages 511-550, September.
    9. Justin T. Callais & Vincent Geloso, 2023. "Intergenerational income mobility and economic freedom," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 89(3), pages 732-753, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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