Intergenerational Earnings Mobility in Singapore and the United States

Irene YH Ng, Xiaoyi Shen and Kong Weng Ho ()
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Irene YH Ng: Department of Social Work, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Xiaoyi Shen: Department of Social Work, National University of Singapore, Singapore

No 803, Economic Growth Centre Working Paper Series from Nanyang Technological University, School of Social Sciences, Economic Growth Centre

Abstract: This study compared intergenerational earnings mobility in Singapore and the United States by replicating the limitations in the Singapore National Youth Survey on the U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics. The mean estimated earnings elasticities are almost identical: 0.26 in Singapore and 0.27 in the United States. Transformed to 0.45 and 0.47 respectively to reflect permanent status, mobility in the two countries is moderately low compared internationally. The finding of similar mobility is not surprising given that the economic realities, welfare systems, education regimes, and labor structures in the two countries are similar. Policy makers face the daunting challenge of overcoming immobility and inequality while maintaining global competitiveness.

Keywords: Intergenerational earnings mobility; Singapore; United States (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C81 J62 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 27 pages
Date: 2008-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-lab and nep-sea
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Intergenerational earnings mobility in Singapore and the United States (2009)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nan:wpaper:0803

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