The Unequal Paths of Progress: Intergenerational Mobility of Occupation and Wealth in Rural Spain (1850-1936)

This article examines intergenerational occupational and wealth mobility in rural Spain (1850–1936), a period of major structural change. Using linked household censuses and wealth tax records from La Mancha, it employs transition matrices, intergenerational elasticities, and halving-time estimates to trace long-run mobility dynamics. Occupational mobility was relatively fluid in the late nineteenth century, persistence strengthened during early twentieth-century agricultural expansion, and declined before the Civil War. In contrast, wealth mobility remained highly persistent, with land concentrated within established families. Incorporating maternal literacy into wealth regressions significantly reduces estimated persistence, highlighting the role of intra-household human capital. By distinguishing occupational from wealth trajectories and accounting for maternal influence, the study extends patrilineal models and sheds light on the structural and gendered reproduction of inequality in agrarian Europe.