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Schooling mobility across three generations in six Latin American countries

Author

Listed:
  • Pablo Celhay

    (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile)

  • Sebastian Gallegos

    (UAI Business School
    IZA Bonn
    The University of Chicago)

Abstract

This paper presents new evidence on schooling mobility across three generations in six Latin American countries. By combining survey information with national census data, we have constructed a novel dataset that includes 50,000 triads of grandparents, parents, and children born between 1890 and 1990. We estimate five intergenerational mobility measures, finding that multigenerational persistence in our six countries is twice as high as in developed countries, and 77% higher than iterating a two-generation model would predict. A theory of high and sticky persistence provides a better approximation for describing mobility across multiple generations in our sample. Even with high persistence, we uncover significant mobility improvements at the bottom of the distribution by estimating measures of absolute upward mobility and bottom-half mobility over three generations. This novel evidence deepens our understanding of long-term mobility, and we expect future research to replicate it as more multigenerational data becomes available in different contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Pablo Celhay & Sebastian Gallegos, 2025. "Schooling mobility across three generations in six Latin American countries," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 38(1), pages 1-35, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:38:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s00148-025-01066-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-025-01066-7
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Developing countries; Latin America; Intergenerational mobility; Upward mobility; Multigenerational data; Reduced inequalities; Quality education; Educational persistence; Multigenerational mobility; Schooling mobility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
    • N36 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Latin America; Caribbean
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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