Geographic Variation in Multigenerational Mobility

Martin Nybom and Jan Stuhler

Sociological Methods & Research, 2025, vol. 54, issue 4, 1532-1575

Abstract: Using complete-count register data spanning three generations, we document spatial patterns in inter- and multi-generational mobility in Sweden. Across municipalities, grandfather–child correlations in education or earnings tend to be larger than the square of the parent–child correlations, suggesting that the latter understate status transmission in the long run. Yet, conventional parent–child correlations capture regional differences in long-run transmission and therefore remain useful for comparative purposes. We further find that the within-country association between mobility and income inequality (the “Great Gatsby Curve†) is at least as strong in the multi- as in the inter-generational case. Interpreting those patterns through the lens of a latent factor model, we find that regional differences in mobility primarily reflect variation in the transmission of latent advantages, rather than in how those advantages translate into observed outcomes.

Keywords: Intergenerational mobility; multigenerational mobility; geography of intergenerational mobility; income inequaltiy; Sweden (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Working Paper: Geographic Variation in Multigenerational Mobility (2025)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:somere:v:54:y:2025:i:4:p:1532-1575

DOI: 10.1177/00491241251341196

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