Comparison of intergenerational occupational mobility patterns: An application of the formal theory of social mobility

Abstract

The formal theory of social mobility, outlined by Dr. S. J. Prais (Population Studies, Vol. IX, 1955) and based upon Markov chain theory, is applied to comparison of intergenerational mobility data which were collected in six countries and are presented in Social Mobility in Industrial Society) by S. M. Lipset and R. Bendix (Berkeley and Los Angeles 1959).

Summary indices based upon equilibrium occupational distributions are independent of the occupational distributions of the populations studied and are associated only with the observed mobility patterns. The mobility patterns are compared in terms of the stable proportions in each occupation class in the equilibrium distributions and, despite similar total mobility rates, substantial differences are noted in the equilibrium occupational distributions implicit in the mobility patterns observed for the various countries.

The formal theory of social mobility represents a direct approach to investigation of consequences of occupational mobility for the occupational distribution itself, and it may be extended and applied to problems of assessment of consequences of occupational mobility for other variables.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Judah Matras

Dr. S. J. Prais very kindly read and commented upon an earlier version of this paper. Miss Leah Brauer assisted in the computations for Table 1.