Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Social Mobility in Sweden before the Welfare State

Berger, Thor LU ; Engzell, Per ; Eriksson, Björn LU and Molinder, Jakob LU (2023) In Journal of Economic History 102(5).
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.

Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Economic History
volume
102
issue
5
publisher
Cambridge University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85151480693
ISSN
0022-0507
DOI
10.1017/S0022050723000098
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
9a01eac7-0b7d-482b-8118-eeecf748df26
date added to LUP
2023-05-23 09:50:48
date last changed
2023-05-23 09:50:48
@article{9a01eac7-0b7d-482b-8118-eeecf748df26,
  abstract     = {{<p>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.</p>}},
  author       = {{Berger, Thor and Engzell, Per and Eriksson, Björn and Molinder, Jakob}},
  issn         = {{0022-0507}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  publisher    = {{Cambridge University Press}},
  series       = {{Journal of Economic History}},
  title        = {{Social Mobility in Sweden before the Welfare State}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0022050723000098}},
  doi          = {{10.1017/S0022050723000098}},
  volume       = {{102}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}