Publication: Intergenerational Income Mobility around the World: A New Database
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Published
2025-07-09
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Date
2025-07-09
Author(s)
Munoz, Ercio
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Abstract
This paper introduces a new global database with estimates of intergenerational income mobility for 87 countries, covering 84 percent of the world’s population. This marks a notable expansion of the cross-country evidence base on income mobility, particularly among low- and middle-income countries. The estimates indicate that the negative association between income mobility and inequality (known as the Great Gatsby Curve) continues to hold across this wider range of countries. The database also reveals a positive association between income mobility and national income per capita, suggesting that countries achieve higher levels of intergenerational mobility as they grow richer.
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“Munoz, Ercio; Van der Weide, Roy. 2025. Intergenerational Income Mobility around the World: A New Database. Policy Research Working Paper; 11166. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/43436 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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