Intergenerational Income Persistence in Germany: the Role of Education and Occupation

Abstract

Since the late 1980s in the field of economics, empirical studies have enhanced the focus on intergenerational income mobility within societies (for international comparisons see, for example, Björklund and Jäntti 2000; Corak 2006). However, still little is known about the mechanism that underlies income persistence across generations. For example, questions about the importance of education and the education system in the process of income formation have so far mainly remained unanswered. Only recently earliest studies investigate potential reasons of income persistence within and across countries, especially for Great Britain and the United States (see, for example, Blanden et al., 2007, 2014; Hertz et al., 2007).