Social Mobility in Sweden before the Welfare State

B-Tier
Journal: Journal of Economic History
Year: 2023
Volume: 83
Issue: 2
Pages: 431-463

Authors (4)

Berger, Thor (not in RePEc) Engzell, Per (not in RePEc) Eriksson, Björn (not in RePEc) Molinder, Jakob (Uppsala Universitet)

Score contribution per author:

0.503 = (α=2.01 / 4 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

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

Abstract

We use historical census data to show that Sweden exhibited high levels of intergenerational occupational mobility several decades before the rise of the welfare state. Mobility rates were higher than in other nineteenth- and twentieth-century European countries, closer to those observed in the highly mobile nineteenth-century United States. We leverage mobility variation across Swedish municipalities to shed light on potential determinants: economic growth and migration are positively correlated with mobility, consistent with the patterns observed across countries.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:cup:jechis:v:83:y:2023:i:2:p:431-463_4
Journal Field
Economic History
Author Count
4
Added to Database
2026-01-26