Geographic Variation in Multigenerational Mobility

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Nybom, Martin, Stuhler, Jan
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Nybom, Martin
Stuhler, Jan
author_facet Nybom, Martin
Stuhler, Jan
contents 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.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_10721
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Geographic Variation in Multigenerational Mobility
Nybom, Martin
Stuhler, Jan
General Economics
Economics
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.
title Geographic Variation in Multigenerational Mobility
topic General Economics
Economics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.10721