Intergenerational Mobility II: New Data and Methods
Paper Session
Monday, Jan. 4, 2027 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM (EST)
- Chair: John Klopfer, University of Hong Kong
Fair Inequality: Alternative Measures of Earnings Differences That Are Not Due to Gender and Parental Advantage in 14 Countries
Abstract
To explore the extent of unequal economic opportunity, we ask: how much less would earnings inequality be if market earnings differences within a country were distributed like differences among same-sex siblings? This hypothetical reduction in inequality is the complement of what we term the “fair” Gini ratio, namely the Gini coefficient computed on same-sex siblings’ earnings differences divided by the conventional Gini coefficient. We show the “fair” Gini is a lower bound on the Gini that would characterize a society conforming to Rawls’ principle of Fair Equality of Opportunity, without gender and parental advantage. Using an ensemble of datasets unrivalled in detail covering 14 countries – Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay, the United States, and New Zealand – we find that the “fair” Gini is on average 23.3% less than the population-wide Gini, with little difference between countries (exhibiting a range of 17.2%-29.4%). This means that the expected earnings difference between a pair of individuals drawn randomly from the population is about a quarter greater than the expected difference between a randomly drawn pair of same-sex siblings. Nonetheless, this gap accounts for a substantial portion of cross-country variation: if U.S. earnings differences were reduced to the magnitude of differences between same-sex siblings, for instance, the U.S. Gini would be somewhat less than that observed in Denmark or Finland. We close by considering the implications of our findings for the normative basis and design of redistributive public policy.Like Great-Grandparent, Like Great-Grandchild? Multigenerational Mobility in American History
Abstract
Using data on 2.5 million great-grandchildren linked to their great-grandfathers in the US (1850–1940), we show that economic gaps persisted strongly across four generations despite major structural change. We find that one-third of the initial differences in economic status across white great-grandfathers remained in their great-grandchildren. When including both Black and white families, this persistence rises to about 50 percent, largely because the gap between Black and white families closed slowly over time. Grandparent and great-grandparent status matter beyond the father's status, indicating slower convergence to the mean than predicted by two-generational estimates. However, this excess persistence is largely driven by enduring racial inequality as grandparent effects are small within the white population.The Immigrant Advantage in US Intergenerational Mobility
Abstract
We use large-scale microdata linking federal tax records to Social Security Administration records to study why children of immigrants have higher upward mobility than children of US-born parents. Differences in childhood geography, parental education, and family structure account for little of this advantage. Instead, higher educational attainment accounts for the majority of the advantage for most origin groups. For children of Latin American immigrants, working more hours and accumulating more labor market experience accounts for the majority of their earnings advantage.Discussant(s)
Erzo Luttmer
,
Dartmouth College
Joseph Ferrie
,
Northwestern University
Francisca Antman
,
University of Colorado-Boulder
JEL Classifications
- J6 - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers
- C8 - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs