Industrial automation and intergenerational income mobility in the United States
(2022) In Social Science Research 104.- Abstract
This article examines how the automation of jobs has shaped spatial patterns of intergenerational income mobility in the United States over the past three decades. Using data on the spread of industrial robots across 722 local labor markets, we find significantly lower rates of upward mobility in areas more exposed to automation. The erosion of mobility chances is rooted in childhood environments and is particularly evident among males growing up in low-income households. These findings reveal how recent technological advances have contributed to the unequal patterns of economic opportunity in the United States today.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/634bcd4a-c060-4141-8d38-be30764b5aca
- author
- Berger, Thor LU and Engzell, Per
- organization
- publishing date
- 2022
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Deindustrialization, Income distribution, Intergenerational mobility, Regional inequality, Social mobility, Technological change
- in
- Social Science Research
- volume
- 104
- article number
- 102686
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:35400391
- scopus:85123063949
- ISSN
- 0049-089X
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2021.102686
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 634bcd4a-c060-4141-8d38-be30764b5aca
- date added to LUP
- 2022-03-25 14:51:09
- date last changed
- 2024-04-18 06:37:08
@article{634bcd4a-c060-4141-8d38-be30764b5aca,
abstract = {{<p>This article examines how the automation of jobs has shaped spatial patterns of intergenerational income mobility in the United States over the past three decades. Using data on the spread of industrial robots across 722 local labor markets, we find significantly lower rates of upward mobility in areas more exposed to automation. The erosion of mobility chances is rooted in childhood environments and is particularly evident among males growing up in low-income households. These findings reveal how recent technological advances have contributed to the unequal patterns of economic opportunity in the United States today.</p>}},
author = {{Berger, Thor and Engzell, Per}},
issn = {{0049-089X}},
keywords = {{Deindustrialization; Income distribution; Intergenerational mobility; Regional inequality; Social mobility; Technological change}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Social Science Research}},
title = {{Industrial automation and intergenerational income mobility in the United States}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2021.102686}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.ssresearch.2021.102686}},
volume = {{104}},
year = {{2022}},
}