Does Regime Change Affect Intergenerational Mobility? Evidence from German Reunification

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Ressource 1Download: Grätz 2021.pdf (309.86 [Ko])
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Version: Final published version
License: CC BY 4.0
Serval ID
serval:BIB_4CCF95FF6B37
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Does Regime Change Affect Intergenerational Mobility? Evidence from German Reunification
Journal
European Sociological Review
Author(s)
Grätz Michael
ISSN
0266-7215 (print)
1468-2672 (electronic)
Publication state
Published
Issued date
12/02/2021
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Language
english
Abstract
This study uses the natural experiment of German reunification and a difference-in-differences approach to test whether the political and economic transition in East Germany in 1990 affected intergenerational occupational and educational mobility. Results obtained using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study show that German reunification did neither strongly affect occupational nor educational mobility. These findings are robust to operationalizing social origin in various ways. Admittedly, reunification may have had small or long-term effects on occupational and educational mobility that cannot be uncovered with the data and research design employed in this study. However, the findings rule out that there were large, short- or medium-term effects of German reunification on intergenerational mobility. These findings are at odds with theories that argue that institutional change has strong, immediate causal effects on intergenerational mobility.
Keywords
Sociology and Political Science
Open Access
Yes
Funding(s)
Swiss National Science Foundation / PZ00P1_180128
Create date
17/02/2021 10:28
Last modification date
19/02/2021 7:09
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