15. From Parents to children: economic mobility and policy interventions

Session 15

From Parents to Children: Economic Mobility and Policy Interventions

Chairs: Stefano Filauro (University of Rome – La Sapienza); Michele Bavaro (Scuola Normale Superiore)

Corresponding Author: Questo indirizzo email è protetto dagli spambots. È necessario abilitare JavaScript per vederlo.

Description 

Intergenerational transmission of economic outcomes has long been a central concern in economics and sociology. A large and growing body of research has examined how inequalities persist across generations, focusing on a wide range of outcomes, from social class and occupational status to more specific monetary dimensions such as earnings, income and income poverty. Over time, the field has benefited from major advances in data availability, spanning from the use of administrative data to longitudinal surveys, and methodology, moving from early approaches based on rank–rank correlations and intergenerational elasticities to increasingly sophisticated designs, including machine learning techniques.

This expanding research area documents substantial cross-country and temporal variation in the degree of intergenerational persistence, highlighting the importance of institutional and contextual factors. Both direct and indirect transmission channels have been identified, including parental education and occupation, family resources, role models, neighbourhood and place-based effects, as well as broader structural conditions. At the same time, growing attention has been devoted to the role of tax–benefit systems, education policies, and social protection more broadly in shaping opportunities and counteracting excessive intergenerational rigidity.

In this context, this session aims to bring together social scientists interested in understanding both the mechanisms driving intergenerational transmission of economic outcomes and the role of public policies in mitigating or reinforcing these processes. The session seeks to foster dialogue across disciplines and approaches, with the goal of deepening our understanding of how inequalities are reproduced, transformed or reduced over time and across generations. 

Contributi:

Teacher Attitudes and Early Inequalities in Students’ Learning: Evidence from Primary School
Ivan Blancato (Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca)
Co-author: Gianluca Argentin (Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca)

Origins, Education and Competecies in Status Attainment in Italy: A Diachronic and Gendered Perspective on Change (or Non-Change)                              Matteo Bonanni (Sapienza University of Rome)
Co-authors: Benedetto Pasanisi (Sapienza University of Rome); Marialuisa Villani

An Open Wound: Measuring Scarring Effects in Italy
Riccardo Casullo (Sapienza Università di Roma)
Co-author: Michele Raitano (Sapienza Università di Roma)

Long-Term Effects of Homeownership: Intergenerational Inequality and Subjective Poverty in Europe
Arianna Perruquet (Università degli studi di Torino)
Co-author: Marianna Filandri (Università degli studi di Torino)