Dynastic Income Mobility

S-Tier
Journal: Review of Economic Studies
Year: 2021
Volume: 88
Issue: 4
Pages: 1863-1891

Authors (2)

Guglielmo Barone (not in RePEc) Sauro Mocetti (Banca d'Italia)

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We examine intergenerational mobility in the very long run, across generations that are six centuries apart. We exploit a unique dataset containing detailed information at the individual level for all people living in the Italian city of Florence in 1427. These individuals have been associated, using their surnames, with their pseudo-descendants living in Florence in 2011. We find that long-run earnings elasticity is about 0.04; we also find an even stronger role for real wealth inheritance and evidence of persistence in belonging to certain elite occupations. Our results are confirmed when we account for the quality of the pseudo-links and when we address the potential selectivity bias behind the matching process. Finally, we frame our results within the existing evidence and argue that the quasi-immobility of preindustrial society and the existence of multigenerational effects might explain the long-lasting effects of ancestors’ socioeconomic status.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:oup:restud:v:88:y:2021:i:4:p:1863-1891.
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-26