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Björn Eriksson

Researcher

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Social Mobility in Sweden before the Welfare State

Author

  • Thor Berger
  • Per Engzell
  • Björn Eriksson
  • Jakob Molinder

Summary, in English

We use historical census data to show that Sweden exhibited high levels of intergenerational occupational mobility several decades before the rise of the welfare state. Mobility rates were higher than in other nineteenth- and twentieth-century European countries, closer to those observed in the highly mobile nineteenth-century United States. We leverage mobility variation across Swedish municipalities to shed light on potential determinants: economic growth and migration are positively correlated with mobility, consistent with the patterns observed across countries.

Department/s

  • Economic demography
  • Centre for Economic Demography
  • Department of Economic History

Publishing year

2023

Language

English

Publication/Series

Journal of Economic History

Volume

102

Issue

5

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Topic

  • Economic History

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0022-0507