Intergenerational Transmission of Occupation: Lessons from the United States Army

Kyle Greenberg, Matthew Gudgeon, Adam Isen, Corbin L. Miller and Richard Patterson

No 33009, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper estimates causal intergenerational occupation transmission in the military using discontinuities in parents’ eligibility for service from the Armed Forces Qualification Test. A parent’s enlistment in the Army increases their children’s military service propensity by between 58% and 110%. Intergenerational occupational transmission rates vary by race and sex—they are highest for demographic groups whose parents gained the most economically from service and for same-sex parent-child pairs. Our findings provide new evidence on the mechanisms driving intergenerational occupation correlations and indicate increasing access to good occupations is an important channel for improving intergenerational economic mobility for less advantaged groups.

JEL-codes: H56 J24 J45 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lma
Note: LS
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