Understanding cross-national variation in occupational mobility

Past research on the question of whether structural and institutional differences among countries produce distinct mobility patterns has often yielded negative results, finding little cross-national variation. Arguing for the merits of a positive approach, this study formulates specific hypotheses and provides statistical models to demonstrate variation among countries in occupational mobility, using national samples of adult men in the US, England and Wales, Japan, Hungary, Poland, and Brazil. The results show distinct differences in the mobility patterns of these countries. Moreover, the cross-national variation in relative mobility is neither systematic nor universal. -Author