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Marital Sorting, Household Labor Supply, and Intergenerational Earnings Mobility across Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Raaum Oddbjørn

    (Frisch Centre)

  • Bratsberg Bernt

    (Frisch Centre)

  • Røed Knut

    (Frisch Centre)

  • Österbacka Eva

    (Åbo Akademi University)

  • Eriksson Tor

    (Aarhus University)

  • Jäntti Markus

    (Åbo Akademi University)

  • Naylor Robin A

    (University of Warwick)

Abstract

We present comparable evidence on intergenerational earnings mobility for Denmark, Finland, Norway, the UK and the US, with a focus on the role of gender and marital status. We confirm that earnings mobility in the Nordic countries is typically greater than in the US and in the UK, but find that, in contrast to all other groups, for married women mobility is approximately uniform across countries when estimates are based on women's own earnings. Defining offspring outcomes in terms of family earnings, on the other hand, leads to estimates of intergenerational mobility in the Nordic countries which exceed those for the US and the UK for both men and women, single and married. Unlike in the Nordic countries, we find that married women with children and with husbands from affluent backgrounds tend to exhibit reduced labor supply in the US and the UK. In these countries, it is the combination of assortative mating and labor supply responses which weakens the association between married women's own earnings and their parents' earnings.

Suggested Citation

  • Raaum Oddbjørn & Bratsberg Bernt & Røed Knut & Österbacka Eva & Eriksson Tor & Jäntti Markus & Naylor Robin A, 2008. "Marital Sorting, Household Labor Supply, and Intergenerational Earnings Mobility across Countries," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 7(2), pages 1-49, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:bejeap:v:7:y:2008:i:2:n:7
    DOI: 10.2202/1935-1682.1767
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    intergenerational mobility; marital sorting;

    JEL classification:

    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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