Social Mobility
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Gary Solon -
Raj Chetty -
Florencia Torche
Leaders: Raj Chetty, Gary Solon, Florencia Torche
The purpose of the Social Mobility RG is to develop and exploit new administrative sources for measuring mobility and the effects of policy on mobility out of poverty. This research group is doing so by (a) providing comprehensive analyses of intergenerational mobility based on linked administrative data from U.S. tax returns, W-2s, and other sources, and (b) developing a new infrastructure for monitoring social mobility, dubbed the American Opportunity Study, that is based on linking census and other administrative data. Here’s a sampling of projects:
Small place estimates: The Equal Opportunity Project, led by Raj Chetty, uses tax return data to monitor opportunities for mobility out of poverty. In one of the new lines of analysis coming out of this project, the first round of results at the level of “commuting zones” are being redone at a more detailed level (e.g., census block level), thus allowing for even better inferences about the effects of place.
The American Opportunity Study: This research group is also collaborating with the Census Bureau to develop a new infrastructure for monitoring mobility that treats linked decennial census data as the spine on which other administrative data are hung.
Colleges and rising income inequality: Where do poor children go to attend college? The “Mobility Report Card” will convey the joint distribution of parent and student incomes for every Title IV institution in the United States.
The “absolute mobility” of the poor: What fraction of poor children grow up to earn more than their parents? Have rates of absolute upward mobility changed over time? This project develops a new method of estimating rates of absolute mobility for the 1940-1984 birth cohorts.
Intergenerational elasticities in the U.S.: There remains some debate about the size of intergenerational elasticities in the U.S. A rarely-used sample of 1987 tax data provides new evidence on U.S. elasticities.
Featured Examples
Mobility - CPI Research
| Title | Author | Media | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What Do We Know So Far about Multigenerational Mobility? | Gary Solon |
What Do We Know So Far about Multigenerational Mobility?Author: Gary SolonPublisher: Date: 03/2015 “Multigenerational mobility” refers to the associations in socioeconomic status across three or more generations. This article begins by summarizing the longstanding but recently growing empirical literature on multigenerational mobility. It then discusses multiple theoretical interpretations of the empirical patterns, including the one recently proposed in Gregory Clark’s book The Son Also Rises. |
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| A New Infrastructure for Monitoring Social Mobility in the United States | David B. Grusky, Timothy M. Smeeding, C. Matthew Snipp |
A New Infrastructure for Monitoring Social Mobility in the United StatesAuthor: David B. Grusky, Timothy M. Smeeding, C. Matthew SnippPublisher: Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science Date: 01/2015 The country’s capacity to monitor trends in social mobility has languished since the last major survey on U.S. social mobility was fielded in 1973. It is accordingly difficult to evaluate recent concerns that social mobility may be declining or to develop mobility policy that is adequately informed by evidence. This article presents a new initiative, dubbed the American Opportunity Study (AOS), that would allow the country to monitor social mobility efficiently and with great accuracy. The AOS entails developing the country’s capacity to link records across decennial censuses, the American Community Survey, and administrative sources. If an AOS of this sort were assembled, it would open up new fields of social science inquiry; increase opportunities for evidence-based policy on poverty, mobility, child development, and labor markets; and otherwise constitute a new social science resource with much reach and impact. |
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| Where is the Land of Opportunity? The Geography of Intergenerational Mobility in the United States | Raj Chetty, Nathaniel Hendren, Patrick Kline, Emmanuel Saez |
Where is the Land of Opportunity? The Geography of Intergenerational Mobility in the United StatesAuthor: Raj Chetty, Nathaniel Hendren, Patrick Kline, Emmanuel SaezPublisher: Date: 06/2014 The United States is often hailed as the “land of opportunity,” a society in which a child’s chances of success depend little on his family background. Is this reputation warranted? We show that this question does not have a clear answer because there is substantial variation in intergenerational mobility across areas within the U.S. The U.S. is better described as a collection of societies, some of which are “lands of opportunity” with high rates of mobility across generations, and others in which few children escape poverty. We characterize intergenerational mobility using information from de-identified federal income tax records, which provide data on the incomes of more than 40 million children and their parents between 1996 and 2012. |
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| Income, Wealth and Debt and the Great Recession | Timothy Smeeding |
Income, Wealth and Debt and the Great RecessionAuthor: Timothy SmeedingPublisher: Date: 10/2012 The Great Depression is often cast as the beginning of the end for the late Gilded Age. Because it brought on the institutional reforms of the New Deal, it led to dramatic reductions in income inequality and set the stage for a long period of comparatively low inequality. The purpose of this recession brief is to ask whether the Great Recession, like the Great Depression, is likewise shaping up as a compressive event that will reverse some of the run-up in inequality of the so-called New Gilded Age. This question can be taken on by examining recent and long-term trends in wealth inequality, income inequality, median incomes, and debt. |
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| Family, the Lifecourse, and the Great Recession | S. Philip Morgan, Erin Cumberworth, Christopher Wimer |
Family, the Lifecourse, and the Great RecessionAuthor: S. Philip Morgan, Erin Cumberworth, Christopher WimerPublisher: Date: 10/2012 The family is an important setting within which the Great Recession can exert its influence. Although the downturn directly affected many workers by reducing their earnings or forcing them into unemployment, it affected others indirectly by changing their living arrangements or family life. Further, the ways in which families are formed or broken up may be affected by the Great Recession, as it can alter the perceived costs and benefits of various family-relevant behaviors. Amid the turmoil and economic upheaval in the wider economy, individuals and families go about their lives, deciding to get married, suffering through breakups and divorces, planning families, and sorting out their living arrangements. The recession could have major effects on all of these family processes. |
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mobility - CPI Affiliates
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Ira I. Katznelson |
Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History |
Columbia University |
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Jan O. Jonsson |
Official Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford University |
Oxford University |
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Jennie Brand |
Professor of Sociology and Statistics |
UCLA |
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John Goldthorpe |
Emeritus Fellow, Sociology |
Nuffield College |
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Jonathan Kelley |
Director at International Survey Center; Adjunct Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Nevada, Reno |
University of Nevada |
Pages
Mobility - Other Research
| Title | Author | Media | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Theory of the Leisure Class | Thorstein Veblen | ||
| Birth and Fortune: The Impact of Numbers on Personal Welfare | Easterlin, Richard |
Birth and Fortune: The Impact of Numbers on Personal WelfareAuthor: Easterlin, RichardPublisher: University of Chicago Press Date: |
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| Money, Morals, and Manners: The Culture of the French and the American Upper-Middle Class | Michele Lamont |
Money, Morals, and Manners: The Culture of the French and the American Upper-Middle ClassAuthor: Michele LamontPublisher: The University of Chicago Press Date: |
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| Income Inequality in the United States, 1913-2002 | Thomas Piketty and Emanuel Saez |
Income Inequality in the United States, 1913-2002Author: Thomas Piketty and Emanuel SaezPublisher: Oxford University Press Date: |
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| Friends in High Places: The Effects of Social Networks on Discrimination in Salary Negotiations | Seidel, Marc-David L., Jeffrey T. Polzer, and... |
Friends in High Places: The Effects of Social Networks on Discrimination in Salary NegotiationsAuthor: Seidel, Marc-David L., Jeffrey T. Polzer, and...Publisher: Administrative Science Quarterly Date: |
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