Intergenerational mobility in the very long run: Florence 1427-2011

Guglielmo Barone () and Sauro Mocetti

No 1060, Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) from Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area

Abstract: We examine intergenerational mobility in the very long run, across generations that are six centuries apart. We exploit a unique dataset containing detailed information at the individual level for all people living in the Italian city of Florence in 1427. These individuals have been associated, using their surnames, with their pseudo-descendants living in Florence in 2011. We find that earnings elasticity is about 0.04, much higher than predicted by traditional models of intergenerational mobility. We also find an even stronger role for real wealth inheritance and evidence of persistence in belonging to certain elite professions. Our results are confirmed when we account for the quality of the pseudo-links and when we address the potential selectivity bias due to the differential survival rates across surnames. We argue that the quasi-immobility of pre-industrial society and the positional advantages in the access to certain professions might explain (in part) the long-lasting effects of ancestors’ socioeconomic status.

Keywords: intergenerational mobility; earnings; wealth; professions; informational content of surnames; Florence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 J62 N33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gro, nep-his and nep-lab
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (29)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Intergenerational Mobility in the Very Long Run: Florence 1427–2011 (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_1060_16

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