My coauthor, Xi Song, and I use the PSID to show that levels of intragenerational occupational mobility, assessed using two-year mobility intervals, have been increasing during the latter half of the 20th century and into the 21st century. We examine mobility at multiple levels of occupational aggregation, and find that mobility is increasing at nearly all levels of aggregation, but especially between relatively distant “meso” and “macro” classes. [Article] [Code]
Rates of 2-year occupational mobility and immobility in the United States, 1969-2012
Occupations are defined hierarchically, with micro-classes nested in meso-classes, which are nested in macro-classes, which are nested in sectors. Micro immobility corresponds to no change in occupation. Net micro mobility is mobility between micro-classes within meso-classes, net meso mobility is mobility between meso-classes within macro-classes, and net macro-mobility is mobility between macro-classes within sectors. Sectoral mobility is mobility between sectors.
Benjamin Fletcher Jarvis 