An Analysis of Intergenerational Mobility in Pakistan

Literature on intergenerational mobility and inequality of opportunities investigates the nature and strength of transformation of inequalities from one generation to next generation. An estimation of elasticity of income (and/or any other outcome) of individuals with respect to the income (and/or some other socioeconomic characteristics) of their previous generations is used to measure the strength of persistence of inequality over generations. A higher estimated elasticity indicates that there is more likelihood of transformation of inequalities from one generation to next generation. Such estimated elasticity is assumed to be lower in those societies which are more egalitarian and provides equal opportunities of upward socioeconomic mobility to people belonging to different social strata. This paper is an attempt to investigate the nature and extent of intergenerational mobility in Pakistan by utilizing household level data. The study is useful in providing some guidelines to policymakers for possible arears of policy interventions.