Social Mobility
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 | |
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The Strength of Weak Ties | Granovetter, Mark S. |
The Strength of Weak TiesAuthor: Granovetter, Mark S.Publisher: American Journal of Sociology Date: 05/1973 |
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Does Marriage Really Make Men More Productive? | Korenman, Sanders, and David Neumark |
Does Marriage Really Make Men More Productive?Author: Korenman, Sanders, and David NeumarkPublisher: Journal of Human Resources Date: |
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Inequality, Growth, and Investment | Robert Barro |
Inequality, Growth, and InvestmentAuthor: Robert BarroPublisher: National Bureau of Economic Research Date: |
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Offering a Job: Meritocracy and Social Networks | Petersen, Trond, Ishak Saporta, and Marc-David L... |
Offering a Job: Meritocracy and Social NetworksAuthor: Petersen, Trond, Ishak Saporta, and Marc-David L...Publisher: American Journal of Sociology Date: |
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Cultural Reproduction and Social Reproduction | Pierre Bourdieu |
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Cultural Reproduction and Social ReproductionAuthor: Pierre BourdieuPublisher: Oxford University Press Date: According to Bourdieu, cultural reproduction is the social process through which culture is reproduced across generations, especially through the socializing influence of major institutions. Bourdieu applied the concept in particular to the ways in which social institutions such as schools are used to pass along cultural ideas that underlie and support the privileged position of the dominant or upper class. Cultural reproduction is part of a larger process of social reproduction through which entire societies and their cultural, structural, and ecological characteristics are reproduced through a process that invariably involves a certain amount of social change. From a Marxist perspective, social reproduction is primarily economic in scope. In a broader sense, however, social reproduction is much more than this, from the shape of religious institutions to language and varieties of music and other cultural products. |
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mobility - CPI Affiliates
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Donald J. Treiman |
Distinguished Professor of Sociology Emeritus; Research Professor, UCLA Faculty Associate, California Center for Population Research |
University of California , Los Angeles |
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Fiona Devine |
Head of Alliance Manchester Business School; Professor of Sociology |
The University of Manchester |
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Hans-Peter Blossfeld |
Professor of Sociology |
Bamberg University |
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Henryk Domanski |
Professor, Director, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology |
Polish Academy of Sciences |
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Hiroshi Ishida |
Professor of Sociology, Institute of Social Sciences |
University of Tokyo |
Pages
Mobility - Other Research
Title | Author | Media | |
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Wage Inequality in the United States during the 1980s: Rising Dispersion or Falling Minimum Wage? | David S. Lee |
Wage Inequality in the United States during the 1980s: Rising Dispersion or Falling Minimum Wage?Author: David S. LeePublisher: Quarterly Journal of Economics Date: |
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Are You Sure You’re Saving Enough for Retirement? | Jonathan Skinner |
Are You Sure You’re Saving Enough for Retirement?Author: Jonathan SkinnerPublisher: Journal of Economic Perspectives Date: |
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Wealth in America | Lisa A. Keister | ||
Is Inequality Harmful for Growth? | Torsten, Persson and Guido Tabellini |
Is Inequality Harmful for Growth?Author: Torsten, Persson and Guido TabelliniPublisher: American Economic Review Date: |
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The Contingent Value of Social Capital | Ronald S. Burt |
The Contingent Value of Social CapitalAuthor: Ronald S. BurtPublisher: Cornell University, Graduate School of Business and Public Administration Date: Burt presents argument and evidence for a structural ecology of social capital that describes how the value of social capital to an individual is contingent on the number of people doing the same work. The information and control benefits of bridging the structural holes - or, disconnections between non-redundant contacts in a network - that constitute social capital are especially valuable to managers with few peers. Such managers do not have the guiding frame of reference for behavior provided by numerous competitors, and the work they do does not have the legitimacy provided by numerous people doing the same kind of work. Burt uses network and performance data on a probability sample of senior managers to show how the value of social capital, high on average for the managers, varies as a power function of the number of people doing the same work. |
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