The Relation between Inequality and Intergenerational Class Mobility in 39 Countries

We study the relationship between inter-class inequality and intergenerational class mobility across 39 countries. Previous research on the relationship between economic inequality and class mobility remains inconclusive, as studies have confounded intra- with between-class economic inequalities. We propose that between-class inequality across multiple dimensions accounts for the inverse relationship between inequality and mobility: the larger the resource distance between classes, the less likely it is that mobility from one to the other will occur. We consider inequality in terms of between-class differences in three areas—education, wages, and income—and in a composite measure. Building on sociological mobility theory, we argue that cross-country variation in mobility results, in part, from families adapting to different levels of between-class inequality. Consistent with this hypothesis, we find a negative correlation between inter-class inequality and social fluidity, with between-class inequality being a better predictor of mobility chances than conventional distributional measures. We also find that the resource distance between classes is negatively related to the strength of their intergenerational association for some off-diagonal origin and destination (OD) class combinations

Laufbahnklassen: zur empirischen Umsetzung eines dynamisierten Klassenbegriffs mithilfe von Sequenzanalysen

Mit dem von Bourdieu entlehnten Begriff der Laufbahnklassen entwickelt der Beitrag ein dynamisiertes Verständnis sozialer Klassenzugehörigkeit im Lebensverlauf, das neben der Existenz stabiler Klassenzugehörigkeiten auch typische Aufstiegs- und Abstiegsmobilitäten als eigenständige Klassen(fraktionen) zulässt. Empirisch wird das Konzept der Laufbahnklassen mithilfe von Sequenzmusteranalysen individueller Erwerbsverläufe umgesetzt. Auf Basis von Daten des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels werden individuelle Klassenzugehörigkeiten - operationalisiert über das EGP-Klassenschema - von Männern und Frauen über jeweils 15 Jahre hinweg und für vier separate Alterskohorten verfolgt. Neben einer beachtlichen Stabilität der Klassenzugehörigkeit finden wir bei den Männern auch typische auf- und abstiegsmobile Laufbahnklassen, die auf spezifische institutionelle Schließungsmechanismen, aber auch Karrierepfade verweisen. Bei den Frauen dominieren dagegen klassenspezifische Muster der Erwerbsein- und -ausstiege. Anhand von Indikatoren der Akkumulation ökonomischen, kulturellen und sozialen Kapitals lassen sich die Laufbahnklassen zugleich anhand spezifischer Strategien der sozialen Platzierung beschreiben.Klassen, soziale Mobilität, Lebensverlauf, Bourdieu, Sequenzanalyse, SOEP

Forschungsstudie: Alterssicherung von Personen mit Migrationshintergrund; Endbericht zum Auftrag des BMAS, Projektgruppe "Soziale Sicherheit und Migration" vom 02.01.2009

Aufgrund der demographischen Entwicklung und unter Annahme weitgehend stabiler Remigrationsmuster ist ein Anstieg des Bevölkerungsanteils älterer Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund zu erwarten. Viele der derzeit in Deutschland lebenden Migranten werden daher ihren Lebensabend hier verbringen. Ziel dieser Studie ist die vergleichende Darstellung der sozioökonomischen Lage der Migrantenpopulation und der autochthonen Bevölkerung. Dabei wird die Lebenslage von Personen im Rentenalter und von älteren Erwerbspersonen ab 45 Jahren vor dem Hintergrund ihrer spezifischen Bildungs- und Erwerbsverläufe untersucht. Damit wird eine belastbare empirische Grundlage für Handlungsempfehlungen zur Verbesserung der sozialen Lage von Frauen und Männern mit Migrationshintergrund im Alter geliefert

Optimal control of vortex core polarity by resonant microwave pulses

In a vortex-state magnetic nano-disk, the static magnetization is curling in the plane, except in the core region where it is pointing out-of-plane, either up or down leading to two possible stable states of opposite core polarity p. Dynamical reversal of p by large amplitude motion of the vortex core has recently been demonstrated experimentally,raising fundamental interest for potential application in magnetic storage devices. Here we demonstrate coherent control of p by single and double microwave pulse sequences, taking advantage of the resonant vortex dynamics in a perpendicular bias magnetic field. Optimization of the microwave pulse duration required to switch p allows to experimentally infer the characteristic decay time of the vortex core in the large oscillation regime. It is found to be more than twice shorter than in the small oscillation regime, raising the fundamental question of the non-linear behaviour of magnetic dissipation

ECLAIRE: Effects of Climate Change on Air Pollution Impacts and Response Strategies for European Ecosystems. Project final report

The central goal of ECLAIRE is to assess how climate change will alter the extent to which air pollutants threaten terrestrial ecosystems. Particular attention has been given to nitrogen compounds, especially nitrogen oxides (NOx) and ammonia (NH3), as well as Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds (BVOCs) in relation to tropospheric ozone (O3) formation, including their interactions with aerosol components. ECLAIRE has combined a broad program of field and laboratory experimentation and modelling of pollution fluxes and ecosystem impacts, advancing both mechanistic understanding and providing support to European policy makers. The central finding of ECLAIRE is that future climate change is expected to worsen the threat of air pollutants on Europe’s ecosystems. Firstly, climate warming is expected to increase the emissions of many trace gases, such as agricultural NH3, the soil component of NOx emissions and key BVOCs. Experimental data and numerical models show how these effects will tend to increase atmospheric N deposition in future. By contrast, the net effect on tropospheric O3 is less clear. This is because parallel increases in atmospheric CO2 concentrations will offset the temperature-driven increase for some BVOCs, such as isoprene. By contrast, there is currently insufficient evidence to be confident that CO2 will offset anticipated climate increases in monoterpene emissions. Secondly, climate warming is found to be likely to increase the vulnerability of ecosystems towards air pollutant exposure or atmospheric deposition. Such effects may occur as a consequence of combined perturbation, as well as through specific interactions, such as between drought, O3, N and aerosol exposure. These combined effects of climate change are expected to offset part of the benefit of current emissions control policies. Unless decisive mitigation actions are taken, it is anticipated that ongoing climate warming will increase agricultural and other biogenic emissions, posing a challenge for national emissions ceilings and air quality objectives related to nitrogen and ozone pollution. The O3 effects will be further worsened if progress is not made to curb increases in methane (CH4) emissions in the northern hemisphere. Other key findings of ECLAIRE are that: 1) N deposition and O3 have adverse synergistic effects. Exposure to ambient O3 concentrations was shown to reduce the Nitrogen Use Efficiency of plants, both decreasing agricultural production and posing an increased risk of other forms of nitrogen pollution, such as nitrate leaching (NO3-) and the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O); 2) within-canopy dynamics for volatile aerosol can increase dry deposition and shorten atmospheric lifetimes; 3) ambient aerosol levels reduce the ability of plants to conserve water under drought conditions; 4) low-resolution mapping studies tend to underestimate the extent of local critical loads exceedance; 5) new dose-response functions can be used to improve the assessment of costs, including estimation of the value of damage due to air pollution effects on ecosystems, 6) scenarios can be constructed that combine technical mitigation measures with dietary change options (reducing livestock products in food down to recommended levels for health criteria), with the balance between the two strategies being a matter for future societal discussion. ECLAIRE has supported the revision process for the National Emissions Ceilings Directive and will continue to deliver scientific underpinning into the future for the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution

ECLAIRE third periodic report

The ÉCLAIRE project (Effects of Climate Change on Air Pollution Impacts and Response Strategies for European Ecosystems) is a four year (2011-2015) project funded by the EU's Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7)

Loïc J.D. Wacquant: Bestrafen der Armen. Zur neoliberalen Regierung der sozialen Unsicherheit. Opladen und Farmington Hills: Barbara Budrich 2009 (359 S.) [Rezension]

Rezension von: Loic J.D. Wacquant: Bestrafen der Armen. Zur neoliberalen Regierung der sozialen Unsicherheit. Opladen und Farmington Hills: Barbara Budrich 2009 (359 S.; ISBN 978-3-86649-188-5; 29,90 EUR)

The Land of Opportunity? Trends in Social Mobility and Education in the United States

This contribution provides insights into the long-term trends of intergenerational mobility of men and women born in the United States. We study both absolute and relative social mobility and analyze in some detail the relation between education and intergenerational mobility. By doing so, we provide some insights into possible drivers of relative mobility trends in the United States

The Relation between Inequality and Intergenerational Class Mobility in 39 Countries

Find the open access paper here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0003122419885094. We study the relationship between inter-class inequality and intergenerational class mobility across 39 countries. Previous research on the relationship between economic inequality and class mobility remains inconclusive, as studies have confounded intra- with between-class economic inequalities. We propose that between-class inequality across multiple dimensions accounts for the inverse relationship between inequality and mobility: the larger the resource distance between classes, the less likely it is that mobility from one to the other will occur. We consider inequality in terms of between-class differences in three areas—education, wages, and income—and in a composite measure. Building on sociological mobility theory, we argue that cross-country variation in mobility results, in part, from families adapting to different levels of between-class inequality. Consistent with this hypothesis, we find a negative correlation between inter-class inequality and social fluidity, with between-class inequality being a better predictor of mobility chances than conventional distributional measures. We also find that the resource distance between classes is negatively related to the strength of their intergenerational association for some off-diagonal origin and destination (OD) class combinations. In this repository, you can find the STATA (*.do) and R (*.R) syntax files to repeat the analyses in our paper. We deleted the section in which we created the used data sets. However, we provide all required country data points to repeat the analyses in the publicly available appendices to the published paper. We upload these syntax files and the data in order to allow for reproduction of our tresults and for others to criticze and ammeliorate our research to further the collective endeavor of studying social inequality. We offer these scripts under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License

Class mobility across three generations in the U.S. and Germany

Based on data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the Socio-economic Panel, we study the class mobility of three concurrent generations in the U.S. and Germany. We find that, in both countries, the grandfathersâ class is directly associated with their grandchildrenâ s social position. We propose three possible mechanisms which could explain the observed multigenerational mobility patterns. First, we consider the role of class-specific resources for mobility strategies. Second, we suggest a more general explanation by integrating grandparentsâ class into the reference frame for mobility decisions. Third, we argue that multigenerational class associations could be the result of categorical inequality based on race or ethnicity. We find that outflow mobility rates differ across grandfathersâ class positions. Three-generational immobility is most frequent in lower and higher class positions. Log-linear analyses show that, in both countries, significant grandfather effects foster immobility within most classes and limit mobility between the working and service classes in Germany specifically. These effects partially lose significance if we only study white Americans and native Germans. Combining the two national mobility tables, we find that the pattern of three-generational mobility is similar in both countries.3