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Direct Measures of Intergenerational Income Mobility for Australia

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Listed:
  • Murray, Chelsea

    (University of Wollongong)

  • Clark, Robert

    (Australian National University)

  • Mendolia, Silvia

    (University of Torino)

  • Siminski, Peter

    (University of Technology, Sydney)

Abstract

We present the first Australian estimates of intergenerational mobility that draw on direct observations of income from two generations. Using panel data for three birth cohorts of young adults from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics Australia survey, the estimated intergenerational income elasticity is 0.28. Correcting for attenuation bias raises this to 0.41. We estimate the rank correlation to be 0.27. We show that Australia has greater mobility than the US and this is not sensitive to methodological choices. We also show that spousal selection and family structure may be important determinants of income persistence across generations.

Suggested Citation

  • Murray, Chelsea & Clark, Robert & Mendolia, Silvia & Siminski, Peter, 2017. "Direct Measures of Intergenerational Income Mobility for Australia," IZA Discussion Papers 11020, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11020
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    Cited by:

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    2. Watson Nicole & Wooden Mark, 2021. "The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 241(1), pages 131-141, February.
    3. Miles Corak, 2020. "Intergenerational Mobility: What Do We Care About? What Should We Care About?," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 53(2), pages 230-240, June.
    4. Roger Wilkins, 2021. "Economic Wellbeing," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 54(4), pages 469-481, December.
    5. Irma Mooi‐Reci, 2020. "Intergenerational Mobility Research: Current Challenges and Future Directions," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 53(2), pages 241-246, June.
    6. Peter Siminski & Sin Hung (Timothy) Yu, 2022. "The Correlation of Wealth Between Parents and Children in Australia," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 55(2), pages 195-214, June.
    7. Alexeev, Sergey, 2020. "The role of imputed rents in intergenerational income mobility in three countries," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    8. Deutscher, Nathan & Mazumder, Bhashkar, 2020. "Intergenerational mobility across Australia and the stability of regional estimates," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    9. Michaël Sicsic, 2023. "Who Climbs Up the Income Ladder? An Analysis of Intergenerational Income Mobility in France," Economie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE), issue 540, pages 3-20.

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    Keywords

    Australia; intergenerational mobility; HILDA;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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