Long-run earnings mobility and earnings inequality: Evidence from SIPP linked administrative earnings data

Grant description:

Has rising income inequality affected income mobility over the course of a working lifetime? This research project will uncover what has happened to earnings mobility during the era of rising earnings inequality, and will explore the underlying causes driving those shifts. The researchers will use an underexploited dataset from the Survey of Income and Program Participation to estimate long-run intragenerational earnings mobility trends, with particular attention to differences in trends by race, gender, and education. They will estimate how much various key changes in the labor force—shifts in demographics, human capital, and returns to skills—have contributed to the mobility trends. This research will help researchers understand the relative importance of different factors to higher earnings mobility over a lifetime.