Differences set in stone: evidence on the inequality-mobility trade off in italy

Francesca Subioli () and Michele Raitano
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Francesca Subioli: Department of Economics and Law - Sapienza University of Rome

No 633, Working Papers from ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality

Abstract: Observing individual income dynamics is crucial to assess the characteristics of theprocess shaping income inequality and its consequences on individual and social wellbeing.Given the level of cross-sectional inequality, a mobile society faces differentchallenges than one where people are stuck in their income positions for their wholelife or see their income stagnate. Moreover, people prefer a stable income stream toa fluctuating one, and the policy concern should deal with both the level of incomeand its dynamics. Using Italy as our case study, we characterise the long-run evolutionof intragenerational mobility in the last fifty years and find evidence of a trade-offbetween income inequality and ’good’ mobility, and complementarity with the worstnotions ofmobility related to income instability. Exploiting individual-level estimates ofgood and badmobility, we also uncover patterns of unequalmobility – the concentrationof low upward mobility and frequent fluctuations among the most vulnerable groups.

Keywords: Earnings inequality; Great Gatsby curve; intragenerational mobility; earnings dynamics; unequal mobility; Italy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 D63 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43 pages
Date: 2022-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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