And Yet It Moves: Intergenerational Mobility in Italy

Abstract

We estimate intergenerational income mobility in Italy using administrative data from tax returns. Our estimates of mobility are higher than prior work using survey data and indirect methods. The rankrank slope of parent-child income is 0.22, compared to 0.18 in Denmark and 0.34 in the United States. The probability that a child reaches the top quintile of the national income distribution starting from a family in the bottom quintile is 0.11. We uncover substantial geographical variation: upward mobility is much stronger in northern Italy, where provinces have higher measured school quality, more stable families, and more favorable labor market conditions. (JEL D31, J31, J62, R23)