Great Gatsby and the Global South

Abstract

In the Global South economic mobility across generations or intergenerational economic mobility is in and of itself an important topic for research with consequences for policy. It concerns the 'stickiness' or otherwise of inequality because mobility is concerned with the extent to which children's economic outcomes are dependent on their parents' economic outcomes. Scholars have estimated levels of intergenerational mobility in many developed countries. Fewer estimates are available for developing countries, where mobility matters more due to starker differences in living standards. This Element surveys the area, conceptually and empirically; it presents a new estimate for a developing country, namely Indonesia; it discusses the 'Great Gatsby Curve' and highlights the different positions of developed and developing countries. Finally, it presents a theoretical framework to explain the drivers of mobility and the stickiness or otherwise of inequality across time. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.