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    Rising through the Ranks: Firms and Social Mobility

    11 July 2024

    Microdata Access Grant 2022. Authors: Oskar Veerhoek (Tilburg University, Tilburg School of Economics and Management).

    Across the developed world income inequality is on the rise whereas social mobility is in decline. Current generations will likely experience less equality of opportunity than any generation since the Second World War. Many studies of social mobility focus on the transmission of human capital from parents to children, but few consider the role of firms. With recently published CBS microdata files, this project sets out to study the effect of firms on social mobility in the Netherlands. A conceptual model of firm impact on mobility is developed based on insights from sociology and economics. Firms are expected to affect social mobility through a combination of firm pay premia and socioeconomic inclusiveness of hiring and promotion. The results of this study will add to the burgeoning interdisciplinary literature on social mobility. They will also have policy implications for both firms and governments.

    Photo by Andrej Lišakov