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Persistence Despite Revolutions

Author

Listed:
  • Alberto F. Alesina
  • Marlon Seror
  • David Y. Yang
  • Yang You
  • Weihong Zeng

Abstract

Can efforts to eradicate inequality in wealth and education eliminate intergenerational persistence of socioeconomic status? The Chinese Communist Revolution and Cultural Revolution aimed to do exactly that. Using newly digitized archival records and contemporary census and household survey data, we show that the revolutions were effective in homogenizing the population economically in the short run. However, the pattern of inequality that characterized the pre-revolution generation re-emerges today. Almost half a century after the revolutions, individuals whose grandparents belonged to the pre-revolution elite earn 16 percent more income and have completed more than 11 percent additional years of schooling than those from non-elite households. We find evidence that human capital (such as knowledge, skills, and values) has been transmitted within the families, and the social capital embodied in kinship networks has survived the revolutions. These channels allow the pre-revolution elite to rebound after the revolutions, and their socioeconomic status persists despite one of the most aggressive attempts to eliminate differences in the population.

Suggested Citation

  • Alberto F. Alesina & Marlon Seror & David Y. Yang & Yang You & Weihong Zeng, 2020. "Persistence Despite Revolutions," NBER Working Papers 27053, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27053
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    3. Bautista, María Angélica & González, Felipe & Martinez, Luis R. & Muñoz, Pablo & Prem, Mounu, 2020. "Dictatorship, Higher Education, and Social Mobility," SocArXiv 6st9r, Center for Open Science.
    4. Claver Sanz, Raúl, 2022. "La transmisión intergeneracional de educación: evidencia en América Latina (1870 – 2010) [The Intergenerational Transmission of Education: Evidence from Latin America (1870 - 2010)]," MPRA Paper 111434, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Bautista, M. A. & Gonzalez, F & Martinez, L. R & Muñoz, P & Prem, M, 2022. "The Intergenerational Transmission of College: Evidence from the 1973 Coup in Chile," Documentos de Trabajo 20503, Universidad del Rosario.
    6. Balán, Pablo & Dodyk, Juan & Puente, Ignacio, 2023. "Kin in the game: How family ties help firms overcome campaign finance regulation," Working Papers 330, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    7. Claver Sanz, Raúl, 2022. "Movilidad entre generaciones en países africanos: evidencia para la educación [Intergenerational mobility in African countries: evidence for education]," MPRA Paper 111678, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Claver Sanz, Raúl, 2022. "¿Cómo evoluciona el nivel educativo entre generaciones en Asia (Pacífico y Oriente Medio)? [How is educational attainment evolving between generations in Asia (Pacific and Middle East)?]," MPRA Paper 111792, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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    10. Bautista, María Angélica & González, Felipe & Martínez, Luis R. & Muñoz, Pablo & Prem, Mounu, 2023. "The intergenerational transmission of higher education: Evidence from the 1973 coup in Chile," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
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    JEL classification:

    • N15 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Asia including Middle East
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics

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