Intergenerational mobility around the world: A new database
A paper in the Journal of Development Economics confirms a global North-South gap in the effective reproduction of a wealthy class across generational lines:
Using individual data from over 400 household surveys, this paper compiles a global database of intergenerational mobility in education for 153 countries covering 97 percent of the world's population. Intergenerational mobility in education is estimated to be lower in the average developing country than in the average high-income country. Children in the developing world have been less successful at surpassing their parents' education, despite the lower levels of parental education. The poorer the country, the more likely it is that individuals born to parents who do not have an education lack the means to get an education. The world as a whole is estimated to be less mobile than the average country in it, which highlights the importance of the country in which one obtains his/her education.
But there are important caveats. The authors include a map and note:
The map shows estimates of MU050 for 153 countries for the 1980s cohort. South America, South Asia, parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as parts of Eastern Europe stand out as regions with some of the lowest levels of intergenerational mobility. We find that 17 of the 25 least mobile countries are either in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, or South Asia. Interestingly, some of the highest levels of mobility are also found in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia (Maldives and Niger).
On this map, the USA is not looking too good either! More like Mexico than it is like Western Europe or Canada…