Occupational mobility and the change in the occupational structure in Britain and Germany, 1993–2008

Abstract

We investigate the relationship between occupational mobility and the change in the occupational structure at the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) two-digit level in Britain and Germany between 1993 and 2008. We find that although gross mobility rates in Britain were almost 3 times as high as those in Germany, this did not translate into more structural change, as measured by the Lilien index. Furthermore, we find that net mobility flows are more closely correlated with structural change in Germany than Britain, leading to the conclusion that the more highly regulated occupational system in Germany does not hinder occupational change.

Keywords:

• occupational mobility
• occupational structure
• Germany
• Britain

JEL Classification:

• J62
• J21
• J24

Notes

¹ Such a job change may or may not be accompanied by a change of employer.

² In the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) classification of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) there is an inconsistency: between 2004 and 2007, a large number of employees were regrouped from group 13 (managers of small enterprises) to 12 (corporate managers), in most cases without any apparent job change. Therefore, we consolidated groups 12 and 13 into one group (12–13). In order to ensure the comparability of the results, we did the same with the German data so that changes between these codes are also excluded.

³ These results are in line with those obtained by Longhi and Brynin (2010, p. 657), regarding their slightly different definition of mobility.

⁴ 11.5% (three-digit level) and 12.0% (four-digit level) in Britain, 3.9% and 4.2%, respectively, in Germany.