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  3. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
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  5. Careers and Intergenerational Income Mobility

American Economic Journal:
Applied Economics

ISSN 1945-7782 (Print) | ISSN 1945-7790 (Online)

Careers and Intergenerational Income Mobility

  • Catherine Haeck
  • Jean-William Laliberté
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics (Forthcoming)

Abstract

This paper uses Census microdata linked with tax records to quantify the contribution of occupations to intergenerational income mobility. We document substantial segregation into occupations by parental income. Children of high-income parents are significantly more likely to pursue high-paying and more desirable occupations. Since parents may pass on their occupations to their children, we further describe patterns of intergenerational occupational following and show they vary substantially across occupations, with lowincome occupations showing more persistence across generations on average. Yet, occupational persistence plays a limited role for income mobility, explaining only 10% of the income rank-rank relationship.

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