In the Name of the Son (and the Daughter): Intergenerational Mobility in the United States, 1850-1940

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Olivetti, Claudia; Paserman, M. Daniele
• 署名单位: Boston College; Boston University; National Bureau of Economic Research; Boston University
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0002-8282
• DOI: 10.1257/aer.20130821
• 发表日期: 2015
• 页码: 2695-2724
• 关键词: occupational-mobility; income mobility; great-britain; CONVERGENCE; IMPACT; rise; AGE; US

摘要

This paper estimates historical intergenerational elasticities between fathers and children of both sexes in the United States using a novel empirical strategy. The key insight of our approach is that the information about socioeconomic status conveyed by first names can be used to create pseudo-links across generations. We find that both father-son and father-daughter elasticities were flat during the nineteenth century, increased sharply between 1900 and 1920, and declined slightly thereafter. We discuss the role of regional disparities in economic development, trends in inequality and returns to human capital, and the marriage market in explaining these patterns. (JEL D63, J12, J16, J24, J62, N31, N32)