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Occupational Choice Across Generations

Author Info

  • Constant, Amelie F.

    ()

    (George Washington University, Temple University)

  • Zimmermann, Klaus F.

    ()

    (IZA and University of Bonn)

Abstract

There are few studies on occupational choices in Germany, and the second generation occupational choice and mobility is even less investigated. Such research is important because occupations determine success in the labor market. In a country like Germany occupations also reflect a general socio-economic standing. This paper looks at the patterns of employment in Germany, analyzes how individual men and women access jobs given their family background, and investigates why men and women have different occupational distributions. Based on the German Socio-Economic Panel we estimate multinomial logit models of occupational choice for the children of immigrants as well as for the natives. Our findings are surprisingly similar for both natives and immigrants. For both Germans and immigrants, we find that gender significantly and differentially affects occupational choice, and that individuals with more education choose higher ranking jobs. The role of experience is important for natives and qualified individuals only. Germans are more likely to choose occupations similar to their fathers’ occupation when their father is in the white collar or professional category. In stark contrast, the immigrants’ occupational choice is more influenced by their mother’s education and not by their fathers’ occupation.

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Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 975.

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Length: 32 pages
Date of creation: Dec 2003
Date of revision:
Publication status: published in: Applied Economics Quarterly, 2003, 49 (4), 299-317
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp975
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Keywords: occupational choice; migration; human capital; intergenerational issues;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • D90 - Microeconomics - - Intertemporal Choice - - - General
  • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
  • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
  • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
  • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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  1. Epstein, Gil S & Lecker, Tikva, 2001. "Multi-Generation Model of Immigrant Earnings: Theory and Application," CEPR Discussion Papers 2750, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  2. Philip Oreopoulos & Marianne E. Page & Ann Huff Stevens, 2003. "Does Human Capital Transfer from Parent to Child? The Intergenerational Effects of Compulsory Schooling," NBER Working Papers 10164, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  3. Bauer, Thomas K. & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 1999. "Occupational Mobility of Ethnic Migrants," IZA Discussion Papers 58, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
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  5. Constant, Amelie F. & Massey, Douglas S., 2003. "Labor Market Segmentation and the Earnings of German Guestworkers," IZA Discussion Papers 774, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  6. Sandra E. Black & Paul J. Devereux & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2005. "Why the Apple Doesn't Fall Far: Understanding Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(1), pages 437-449, March.
  7. Donna K. Ginther & Robert A. Pollak, 2000. "Does family structure affect children's educational outcomes?," Working Paper 2000-13, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
  8. Ermisch, John & Francesconi, Marco, 2000. "The effect of parents' employment on children's educational attainment," ISER Working Paper Series 2000-31, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
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  12. Zimmerman, David J, 1992. "Regression toward Mediocrity in Economic Stature," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(3), pages 409-29, June.
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  16. Chiswick, Barry R, 1977. "Sons of Immigrants: Are They at an Earnings Disadvantage?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(1), pages 376-80, February.
  17. Behrman, Jere R & Taubman, Paul, 1990. "The Intergenerational Correlation between Children's Adult Earnings and Their Parents' Income: Result from the Michigan Panel Survey of Income Dynamics," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 36(2), pages 115-27, June.
  18. Harper, Barry & Haq, Mohammad, 1997. "Occupational Attainment of Men in Britain," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 49(4), pages 638-50, October.
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  22. Black, Sandra & Devereux, Paul J. & Salvanes, Kjell G, 2003. "Why the Apple Doesn't Fall: Understanding Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital," CEPR Discussion Papers 4150, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
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Cited by:

  1. Chakraborty, Shankha & Thompson, Jon & Yehoue, Etienne, 2014. "The Culture of Entrepreneurship," MPRA Paper 56892, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  2. Howard, Larry L. & Prakash, Nishith, 2011. "Do Employment Quotas Explain the Occupational Choices of Disadvantaged Minorities in India?," IZA Discussion Papers 5894, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  3. John, Katrin & Thomsen, Stephan L., 2012. "Heterogeneous Returns to Personality - The Role of Occupational Choice," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-495, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
  4. Hammermann, Andrea & Mohnen, Alwine, 2012. "Who Benefits from Benefits? Empirical Research on Tangible Incentives," IZA Discussion Papers 6284, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  5. Corneo, Giacomo, 2013. "Work norms, social insurance and the allocation of talent," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 79-92.
  6. Ham, Roger & Junankar, Pramod N. (Raja) & Wells, Robert, 2009. "Occupational Choice: Personality Matters," IZA Discussion Papers 4105, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).

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