Social Mobility

  • 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.

Mobility - CPI Research

Title Author Media
Social Networks and Labor-Market Outcomes: Toward an Economic Analysis Montgomery. James D.

Social Networks and Labor-Market Outcomes: Toward an Economic Analysis

Author: Montgomery. James D.
Publisher: American Economic Review
Date:
Structural Holes Ronald S. Burt

Structural Holes

Author: Ronald S. Burt
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Date:
The New Geography of Global Income Inequality Glenn Firebaugh

The New Geography of Global Income Inequality

Author: Glenn Firebaugh
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Date:
Are All the Good Men Married? Uncovering the Sources of the Marital Wage Premium Kate Antonovics and Robert Town

Are All the Good Men Married? Uncovering the Sources of the Marital Wage Premium

Author: Kate Antonovics and Robert Town
Publisher: American Economic Review
Date:
Information Networks in Labor Markets Rees, Albert

Information Networks in Labor Markets

Author: Rees, Albert
Publisher: American Economic Review
Date:

mobility - CPI Affiliates

Anthony Giddens's picture Anthony Giddens Life Fellow of King's College; Professor Lord (Emeritus); Director, Center for the Study of Global Governance
London School of Economics and Political Science
Carlos-Antonio-Costa Ribeiro's picture Carlos-Antonio-Costa Ribeiro Professor of Sociology; member of the Interdisciplinary Nucleus of Inequality Studies
Intituto Universitario de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro
Harry B. G. Ganzeboom's Image Harry B. G. Ganzeboom Professor of Sociology and Social Research Methodology
Free University Amsterdam

Pages

Mobility - Other Research

Title Author Media
The Division of Labor in Society Emile Durkheim

The Division of Labor in Society

Author: Emile Durkheim
Publisher: The Free Press
Date:
Job Information Networks, Neighborhood Effects, and Inequality Yannis M. Ioannides and Linda D. Louryi

Job Information Networks, Neighborhood Effects, and Inequality

Author: Yannis M. Ioannides and Linda D. Louryi
Publisher: Journal of Economic Literature
Date:
Wage Inequality and the Rise in Returns to Skill Chinhui Juhn, Kevin M. Murphy and Brooks Pierce

Wage Inequality and the Rise in Returns to Skill

Author: Chinhui Juhn, Kevin M. Murphy and Brooks Pierce
Publisher: Journal of Political Economy
Date:
Intergenerational Consequences of Family Disruption McLanahan, Sara and Larry Bumpass

Intergenerational Consequences of Family Disruption

Author: McLanahan, Sara and Larry Bumpass
Publisher: American Journal of Sociology
Date:
America Unequal Sheldon Danziger and Peter Gottschalk

America Unequal

Author: Sheldon Danziger and Peter Gottschalk
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Date:

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