Citation
Discussion Paper Details
Please find the details for DP15284 in an easy to copy and paste format below:
Full Details | Bibliographic Reference
Full Details
Title: Social Mobility and Social Regimes: Intergenerational Mobility in Hungary, 1949-2017
Author(s): Pawel Bukowski, Gregory Clark, Attila Gáspár and Rita Peto
Publication Date: September 2020
Keyword(s): inequality, Social mobility and social regimes
Programme Area(s): Economic History and Labour Economics
Abstract: This paper measures social mobility rates in Hungary 1949-2017, for upper class and underclass families, using surnames to measure social status. In these years there were two very different social regimes. The first was the Hungarian People's Republic, 1949-1989, a Communist regime with an avowed aim of favouring the working class. Then the modern liberal democracy, 1989-2020, a free-market economy. We find four 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 subsequent capitalist regime. Third, the Romani minority throughout both periods showed even lower social mobility rates. And fourth, the descendants of the noble class in Hungary in the eighteenth century were still significantly privileged 1949 and later.
For full details and related downloads, please visit: https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=15284
Bibliographic Reference
Bukowski, P, Clark, G, Gáspár, A and Peto, R. 2020. 'Social Mobility and Social Regimes: Intergenerational Mobility in Hungary, 1949-2017'. London, Centre for Economic Policy Research. https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=15284