OCCUPATIONAL INHERITANCE, DIRECTIONAL MOBILITY AND INCOME INEQUALITY: EVIDENCE FROM MULTAN DISTRICT, PAKISTAN

Abstract

This paper examines intergenerational occupational transmission as a channel of economic inequality using a household survey conducted in Multan District, Pakistan. We extend the conventional binary measure of occupational persistence in three directions. First, logit and probit models show that gender and own education are the main determinants of occupational following: men are considerably more likely than women to follow a parent’s occupation and each additional year of schooling significantly lowers the likelihood of doing so. A Choice of Profession variable provides evidence of direct parental steering which modestly raises the probability of following. Second, we classify occupational movers by the direction of their move using a composite sector-prestige ranking. Most movers move upward while smaller shares move laterally or downward. Low-educated movers face roughly twice the downward-mobility risk of highly educated movers and children from low-status origins move mainly into teaching and small business rather than into the professions. Third, income is far more unequally distributed among occupational followers than among movers on both the Gini coefficient and the mean log deviation even though the two groups share the same median income. Interpreted within the Ferreira-Gignoux inequality of opportunity framework, the results suggest that occupational inheritance concentrates rewards among a minority of heirs and thereby amplifies inequality across generations. The findings point to education, gender-inclusive labour-market policies and merit-based access to the professions as priorities for promoting mobility.