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Frontiers of mobility: Was Australia 1870–2017 a more socially mobile society than England?

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  • Clark, Gregory
  • Leigh, Andrew
  • Pottenger, Mike

Abstract

There is longstanding pride among Australians that by throwing off the social class demarcations that defined their ossified colonial parent society, England, they created an open, socially mobile society. The paper tests this belief by estimating long run social mobility rates in Australia 1870–2017, using the status of rare surnames. The status information includes occupations from electoral rolls 1903–1980, and records of degrees awarded by Melbourne and Sydney universities 1852–2017. Status persistence was strong throughout, with an intergenerational correlation of occupational or educational status of 0.7–0.8, and no change over time. Mobility rates were also just as low within UK immigrants and their descendants, so ethnic group effects explain none of the immobility. The less pronounced class divisions of Australia compared to England did not enhance social mobility. A possible sign of enhanced Australian social mobility – the fact that surnames associated with convicts already had a modest elite status by 1870 – seems to derive from convicts transported to Australia from England being positively selected in terms of human capital.

Suggested Citation

  • Clark, Gregory & Leigh, Andrew & Pottenger, Mike, 2020. "Frontiers of mobility: Was Australia 1870–2017 a more socially mobile society than England?," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:exehis:v:76:y:2020:i:c:s0014498320300139
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2020.101327
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    Cited by:

    1. Antonie, Luiza & Inwood, Kris & Minns, Chris & Summerfield, Fraser, 2022. "Intergenerational Mobility in a Mid-Atlantic Economy: Canada, 1871–1901," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 82(4), pages 1003-1029, December.
    2. Andrew Seltzer & Martin Shanahan & Claire Wright, 2022. "The Rise and Fall and Rise (?) of Economic History in Australia," CEH Discussion Papers 05, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    3. Santavirta, Torsten & Stuhler, Jan, 2024. "Name-Based Estimators of Intergenerational Mobility," IZA Discussion Papers 16725, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Antonie, Luiza & Inwood, Kris & Minns, Chris & Summerfield, Fraser, 2021. "Intergenerational mobility in a mid-Atlantic economy: Canada, 1871-1901," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108411, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Gregory Clark, 2020. "Measuring social mobility rates in earlier and less-documented societies," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-28, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

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