Models for the comparative analysis of vertical mobility

Abstract

This paper has discussed and illustrated the use of models for the analysis of association in the study of vertical mobility. The methods have been applied to Danish and English data, and a parsimonious model has been arrived at which provides a statistically adequate fit to the data (although none of the models fits the English data). It has been shown that a good account of the mobility processes can be given by positing a cross-nationally constant level of class inheritance in class one and in classes two, three and five, and the absence of any specific inheritance parameter in class four, and a pattern of vertical mobility described by the heterogeneous column-effects model, in which the effects of each destination class on the association vary both within and between countries.