Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Date of Degree
6-2026
Document Type
Doctoral Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Program
Economics
Advisor
Miles Corak
Committee Members
Lilia Maliar
Wim Vijverberg
Subject Categories
Econometrics | Income Distribution | Labor Economics
Keywords
Intergenerational Transmission, Occupational Sorting, Self-Selection, Human Capital, Skill Inheritance, Economic Inequality
Abstract
This dissertation consists of three chapters on the intergenerational transmission of occupations and occupational skills, with a particular focus on how parental occupations shape children’s occupational choices. It provides new empirical insights into the mechanisms through which occupational skills are transmitted across generations and how these processes contribute to persistent inequality. The first chapter develops an empirical framework to analyze how parental occupations influence children’s occupational choices. Building on Roy’s model of self-selection, I extend the framework to explicitly incorporate parental occupational influence and introduce an intergenerational self-selection mechanism. The model allows for both positive and negative self-selection when children follow their parents’ occupations. To capture heterogeneity in skill transmission, I incorporate a Fréchet distribution, which models the distribution of children’s occupational skills and allows skill advantages to be correlated with parental occupations. The empirical results show that occupational inheritance is a significant driver of persistent income inequality. Children who follow their parents into lower-decile occupations exhibit substantial negative self-selection, indicating misallocation of talent and limited upward mobility. In contrast, children from higher-decile occupations tend to exhibit positive or near-efficient selection, suggesting a more optimal allocation of skills at the top of the occupational distribution.
The second chapter extends the intergenerational self-selection framework by distinguishing between the roles of fathers’ and mothers’ occupations in shaping children’s occupational outcomes. It examines whether the incidence of positive and negative self-selection difers depending on whether children follow their father’s or mother’s occupation, and further explores heterogeneity across sons and daughters. Using a pairwise calibration approach that combines observed transition probabilities with conditional wage outcomes, the analysis evaluates the efciency of occupational sorting within families. The results uncover systematic gendered patterns in intergenerational occupational transmission. Sons generally exhibit more consistent positive self-selection, particularly in higher-skill and technical occupations, indicating relatively efcient sorting. In contrast, negative self-selection is more prevalent in lower-skill occupations and appears more frequently among daughters, suggesting the presence of gender-specifc frictions that limit optimal occupational matching. Diferences between paternal and maternal transmission further highlight the role of family structure in shaping career outcomes. While both parents infuence occupational choices, the strength and efciency of this infuence vary across occupations and by the child’s gender. Overall, the fndings demonstrate that intergenerational persistence operates not only through occupational inheritance but also through diferences in the efciency of occupational sorting. These results contribute to a deeper understanding of how family background, gender, and labor market structure jointly shape occupational outcomes, and they underscore the importance of reducing barriers that prevent individuals from selecting into occupations that best match their abilities. The third chapter moves beyond occupational titles to examine the transmission of fathers’ occupational skills at the task and skill level. It introduces machine learning framework to uncover the mechanisms through which specifc skills are transmitted across generations.
The analysis shows that fathers’ occupational skills are directly transmitted to children and play a central role in shaping career outcomes. Technical and analytical skills of the fathers strongly predict entry of children into STEM and skilled occupations, while communication and managerial skills increase the likelihood of careers in business, education, and services. The evidence highlights the persistence of problem-solving and critical thinking of the father as key predictors across occupational choices. Overall, the findings demonstrate that intergenerational mobility operates through the transmission of specific skills rather than occupational titles alone, providing a new perspective on the sources of inequality and the channels of skill formation
Recommended Citation
Landge, Swapnil, "Intergenerational Transmission of Occupations and Skills" (2026). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/6661
