Trends in Absolute Income Mobility in North America and Europe

Robert Manduca (), Maximilian Hell (), Adrian Adermon, Jo Blanden (), Espen Bratberg (), Anne Gielen, Hans van Kippersluis (), Keun Bok Lee (), Stephen Machin, Martin D. Munk (), Martin Nybom, Yuri Ostrovsky, Sumaiya Rahman () and Outi Sirniö ()
Additional contact information
Robert Manduca: University of Michigan
Maximilian Hell: Stanford University
Jo Blanden: University of Surrey
Hans van Kippersluis: Erasmus University Rotterdam
Keun Bok Lee: California State University
Martin D. Munk: Aalborg University
Sumaiya Rahman: Frontier Economics
Outi Sirniö: University of Turku

No 13456, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We compute rates of absolute upward income mobility for the 1960-1987 birth cohorts in eight countries in North America and Europe. Rates and trends in absolute mobility varied dramatically across countries during this period: the US and Canada saw upward mobility rates near 50% for recent cohorts, while countries like Norway and Finland saw sustained rates above 70%. Decomposition analysis suggests that differences in the marginal income distributions, especially the amount of cross-cohort income inequality, were the primary driver of differing mobility rates across countries. We also demonstrate that absolute mobility rates can be accurately estimated without linked parent-child data.

Keywords: absolute intergenerational mobility; income; international comparison (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 J62 P52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 94 pages
Date: 2020-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ltv
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Published - published as 'Measuring Absolute Income Mobility: Lessons from North America and Europe' in: American Economic Journal - Applied Economics, 2024, 16 (2), 1 - 30

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Working Paper: Trends in Absolute Income Mobility in North America and Europe (2020)
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