The Making and Unmaking of Opportunity: Educational Mobility in 20th Century-Denmark

Kristian Karlson () and Rasmus Landersø ()
Additional contact information
Kristian Karlson: University of Copenhagen
Rasmus Landersø: Rockwool Foundation Research Unit
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Rasmus Landersø

No 2021-008, Working Papers from Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group

Abstract: We study intergenerational educational mobility in Denmark over the 20th century during which the comprehensive Danish welfare state was rolled out. While mobility initially was low, schooling reforms benefiting children from disadvantaged backgrounds led to dramatic increases in mobility for cohorts born between 1940 and 1960. However, the college expansion affecting cohorts born from 1970 onward has mainly benefited children from affluent backgrounds, resulting in rapidly declining mobility. Comparisons to educational mobility trends in the U.S. reveal that the two countries converge in mobility levels for the most recent cohorts despite the dramatically different welfare policies in place.

Keywords: educational mobility; Inequality; schooling reforms; skill (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H00 I00 J00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his, nep-lab and nep-ltv
Note: MIP
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Karlso ... ortunity-denmark.pdf First version, February 17, 2021 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The making and unmaking of opportunity: educational mobility in 20th‐century Denmark (2025)
Working Paper: The Making and Unmaking of Opportunity: Educational Mobility in 20th Century-Denmark (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hka:wpaper:2021-008

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