Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP15284
Authors: Pawe Bukowski; Gregory Clark; Attila Gáspár; Rita Pet
Abstract: This paper measures social mobility rates in Hungary 1949-2017, for upperclass and underclass families, using surnames to measure social status.In these years there were two very different social regimes. The first wasthe Hungarian People’s Republic, 1949-1989, a Communist regime with anavowed aim of favouring the working class. Then the modern liberal democracy,1989-2020, a free-market economy. We find five surprising things. First,social mobility rates were low for both upper- and lower-class families 1949-2017, with an underlying intergenerational status correlation of 0.6-0.8. Second,social mobility rates under communism were the same as in the subsequentcapitalist regime. Third, the Romani minority throughout bothperiods showed even lower social mobility rates. Fourth, the descendants ofthe noble class in Hungary in the eighteenth century were still significantlyprivileged in 1949 and later. And fifth, while social mobility rates did notchange measurably during the transition, the composition of the politicalelite changed fast and sharply.
Keywords: social mobility; social regimes; inequality
JEL Codes: J62; N34; P36
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| social mobility rates (J62) | intergenerational status correlation (D15) |
| political regime change (P39) | social mobility rates (J62) |
| noble surnames (Y70) | privileges (P14) |
| Romani minority (J15) | social mobility rates (J62) |
| political representation (D72) | social mobility (J62) |