Intergenerational mobility of immigrants in 15 destination countries
Key Takeaways
- •Children of immigrants across 15 studied countries earn somewhat less than children of locally born parents, with approximately half of the income gap explained by differences in parental income.
- •Daughters of immigrants achieve higher absolute mobility than daughters of locally born parents in the majority of destination countries.
- •Sons of immigrants experience higher absolute mobility outside Europe but lower mobility within Europe compared to sons of locally born parents.
- •Cross-country differences in absolute mobility are driven primarily by destination labor markets and immigration policy rather than parental country of origin.
- •The study's multi-country design allows researchers to separate the influence of immigrant characteristics from the role of destination-country institutions, addressing a limitation of prior single-country analyses.
Researchers estimated intergenerational mobility for children of immigrants across 15 receiving countries and found that these children have somewhat lower income than children of locally born parents. About half of the gap can be explained by differences in parental income, while the remainder reflects differences in mobility parameters. The study's cross-national scope is notable in an economics literature where intergenerational mobility research has often been limited to single-country analyses, making it difficult to separate the role of immigrant characteristics from the role of destination-country institutions.
The study also finds that daughters of immigrants enjoy higher absolute mobility than daughters of local-born parents in most destinations. For sons, absolute mobility is higher outside Europe and lower in Europe compared with sons of local-born parents.
According to the authors, cross-country differences in absolute mobility are not driven by parental country of origin, but instead by destination labor markets and immigration policy. This finding points toward host-country conditions—such as labor market access, recognition of foreign credentials, and integration frameworks—as the binding variables for immigrant offspring outcomes, rather than cultural or origin-specific factors.
The paper is by Leah Boustan and others. Leah Boustan is a Princeton University economist whose research focuses on immigration and economic history. It was highlighted via Samir Varma. The paper can be found here.
