Intergenerational Economic Mobility and Assortative Mating

Arbeitspapier

We use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel and the British Household Panel Survey to estimate the extent of intergenerational economic mobility in a framework that highlights the role played by assortative mating. We find that assortative mating plays an important role. On average about 40-50 percent of the covariance between parents? and own permanent family income can be attributed to the person to whom one is married. This effect is driven by strong spouse correlations in human capital.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: DIW Discussion Papers ; No. 448

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Education and Research Institutions: General ; Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers ; Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse ; Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions
• Subject: Intergenerational links ; marriage market ; assortative mating ; occupational prestige

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Ermisch, John ; Francesconi, Marco ; Siedler, Thomas
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW)
• (where): Berlin
• (when): 2004

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/18300
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET