Intergenerational Mobility in Welfare: Wages and Amenities

Natalia Khorunzhina (), Jesse Wedewer () and Runling Wu ()
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Natalia Khorunzhina: Department of Economics, Copenhagen Business School, Postal: Copenhagen Business School, Department of Economics, Porcelaenshaven 16 A. 1. floor, DK-2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark, https://research.cbs.dk/en/persons/natalia-khorunzhina
Jesse Wedewer: Duke University
Runling Wu: Duke University

No 1-2026, Working Papers from Copenhagen Business School, Department of Economics

Abstract: Measures of intergenerational mobility primarily focus on earnings and often overlook substantial heterogeneity in job amenities. We propose a novel measure of intergenera-tional welfare mobility, “value-value” slope, including both pecuniary and non-pecuniary value of a job. We apply a revealed preference approach to construct common rankings of jobs based on worker flows. Using Danish administrative data, we document that there is 31% more intergenerational mobility than earnings-based mobility measures alone would suggest: the value-value slope is 0.105 and the wage-premia slope is 0.151. Importantly, this aggregate pattern masks striking gender differences: comparing within each gender, daughters exhibit 38% greater mobility in total welfare than in wages; for sons, the two measures nearly align. Gender differences trace to how family background shapes educa-tional and occupational paths. Daughters pursue academic tracks and enter white-collar jobs with similar amenities at high rates regardless of background. Sons’ paths are more stratified: those from disadvantaged families disproportionately follow vocational routes into blue-collar work, where both wages and amenities differ sharply from the professional jobs that advantaged sons obtain.

Keywords: Intergenerational mobility; earnings inequality; amenities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 J30 J62 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 81 pages
Date: 2025-12-27
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