Discussion Papers no. 798

Intergenerational mobility in Norway, 1865-2011

This paper constructs a data set of 835,537 linked father-son pairs from census records and documents a substantial increase in intergenerational occupational mobility in Norway between 1865 and 2011

There are large differences in intergenerational mobility between countries. However, little is known about how persistent such differences are, and how they evolve over time. This paper constructs a data set of 835,537 linked father-son pairs from census records and documents a substantial increase in intergenerational occupational mobility in Norway between 1865 and 2011. The increase is most pronounced in nonfarm occupations. The findings show that long-run mobility developments previously described for the US and UK are not necessarily representative for other countries, and that high mobility in a given country today need not reflect high mobility before industrialization.

About the publication

Title

Intergenerational mobility in Norway, 1865-2011

Author

Jørgen Modalsli

Series and number

Discussion Papers no. 798

Publisher

Statistics Norway

Topic

Discussion Papers

ISSN

1892-753X

Number of pages

52

Language

English

About Discussion Papers

Discussion papers comprise research papers intended for international journals and books. A preprint of a Discussion Paper may be longer and more elaborate than a standard journal article as it may include intermediate calculations, background material etc.

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