Social mobility and political regimes: intergenerational mobility in Hungary, 1949-2017

Pawel Bukowski, Gregory Clark, Attila Gáspár and Rita Peto

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: This paper measures social mobility rates in Hungary 1949-2017, for upper class and underclass families, using surnames to measure social status. In these years there were two very different social regimes. The first was the Hungarian People’s Republic, 1949-1989, a Communist regime with an avowed aim of favouring the working class. Then the modern liberal democracy, 1989-2020, a free-market economy. We find five surprising things. First, social mobility rates were low for both upper- and lower-class families 1949- 2017, with an underlying intergenerational status correlation of 0.6-0.8. Second, social mobility rates under communism were the same as in the subsequent capitalist regime. Third, the Romani minority throughout both periods showed even lower social mobility rates. Fourth, the descendants of the noble class in Hungary in the eighteenth century were still significantly privileged in 1949 and later. And fifth, while social mobility rates did not change measurably during the transition, the composition of the political elite changed fast and sharply.

Keywords: social mobility; status inheritance; institutions; transition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J62 N34 P36 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 81 pages
Date: 2021-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his, nep-pol and nep-tra
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/110873/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Social Mobility and Political Regimes: Intergenerational Mobility in Hungary, 1949–2017 (2022)
Working Paper: Social mobility and political regimes: intergenerational mobility in Hungary, 1949–2017 (2022)
Working Paper: Social Mobility and Political Regimes:Intergenerational Mobility in Hungary, 1949-2017 (2021)
Working Paper: Social Mobility and Political Regimes: Intergenerational Mobility in Hungary, 1949-2017 (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:110873

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