Jews, second-hand trade and upward economic mobility: Introducing the ready-to-wear business in industrializing Helsinki, 1880–1930

Although previous researchers have demonstrated that people often prefer potential rather than achievement when evaluating other people or products, few have focused on the boundary conditions on this effect. We proposed that the preference for potential would emerge when individuals’ perception of economic mobility was high, but the preference for achievement would emerge among individuals with low perceptions of economic mobility. Our results showed that people paid more attention to the future (vs. the present) when their perception of economic mobility was high; this, in turn, promoted more favorable reactions toward potential (vs. achievement). Thus, we suggested circumstances under which highlighting a person’s potential for future success is effective and those when it is not effective. Moreover, we revealed the important role of individual perceptions regarding economic mobility in driving this effect.

Download Full-text

Americans Misperceive Racial Disparities in Economic Mobility

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin ◽

10.1177/01461672211024115 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 014616722110241

Author(s):

Shai Davidai ◽

Jesse Walker

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Racial Disparities ◽

American Dream ◽

Black Americans ◽

The United States ◽

Economic Mobility ◽

Systemic Racism ◽

Economic Disparities ◽

Lay Beliefs ◽

Socioeconomic System

What do people know about racial disparities in “The American Dream”? Across six studies ( N = 1,761), we find that American participants consistently underestimate the Black–White disparity in economic mobility, believing that poor Black Americans are significantly more likely to move up the economic ladder than they actually are. We find that misperceptions about economic mobility are common among both White and Black respondents, and that this undue optimism about the prospect of mobility for Black Americans results from a narrow focus on the progress toward equality that has already been made. Consequently, making economic racial disparities salient, or merely reflecting on the unique hardships that Black Americans face in the United States, calibrates beliefs about economic mobility. We discuss the importance of these findings for understanding lay beliefs about the socioeconomic system, the denial of systemic racism in society, and support for policies aimed at reducing racial economic disparities.

Download Full-text

Has the Allocation of Certain Teachers Impacted Student Achievement and Upward Economic Mobility? The Case of Forsyth County, NC Elementary Schools

Education and Urban Society ◽

10.1177/0013124520972678 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 001312452097267

Author(s):

Zachary D. Blizard

Keyword(s):

Elementary Schools ◽

Economically Disadvantaged ◽

Local System ◽

Experienced Teachers ◽

Economic Mobility ◽

High Performing Schools ◽

High Performing ◽

Disadvantaged Children ◽

Forsyth County ◽

Inexperienced Teacher

Forsyth County, North Carolina has one of the lowest rates of upward economic mobility in the entire United States. Researchers find that one of strongest correlates of upward mobility is the quality of schools in the local system. Using 2018 and 2017 NC Public School Report Card (SRC) data for Forsyth County elementary schools, I find that the percentage of experienced teachers at a school is a significant predictor of school performance. At high-performing schools, a much larger share of their faculties consist of highly experienced and educated teachers, compared to low-performing schools that predominately serve economically disadvantaged children. Experienced and high-quality teachers can have significant long-term impacts on elementary school children, especially those who come from underprivileged families. Yet in Forsyth County, schools with greater shares of economically disadvantaged children have lower percentages of teachers with these characteristics. I argue that the Forsyth County school system can assist in reversing low mobility rates by allocating more experienced teachers toward low-performing elementary schools that serve mostly disadvantaged children. This will insure that these schools have higher experienced-to-inexperienced teacher ratios, while also helping to reduce teacher turnover.

Download Full-text

A census tract level analysis of urban sprawl's effects on economic mobility in the United States

Cities ◽

10.1016/j.cities.2021.103232 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 115 ◽

pp. 103232

Author(s):

Russell M. Smith ◽

Zachary D. Blizard

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Census Tract ◽

The United States ◽

Economic Mobility ◽

Census Tract Level ◽

Level Analysis

Download Full-text

Migration and Economic Mobility: Wealth Accumulation and Occupational Change Among Antebellum Migrants and Persisters

The Journal of Economic History ◽

10.1017/s0022050700021677 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 58 (4) ◽

pp. 927-956 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Steven Herscovici

Keyword(s):

Nineteenth Century ◽

Social Mobility ◽

Blue Collar ◽

Economic Mobility ◽

Economic Opportunity ◽

Wealth Accumulation ◽

Data Set ◽

Occupational Change ◽

Nineteenth Century America

Research on nineteenth-century economic and social mobility has concentrated on occupational change among men who remained in the same community for ten or more years, although fewer than half of any community's residents persist that long. This article uses a data set created specifically to compare the experiences of men who migrated from Newburyport, Massachusetts in the mid-nineteenth century with those of men who persisted. It finds that blue-collar migrants were more successful than were their counterparts who did not move. The results suggest that previous studies may have considerably underestimated the extent of economic opportunity in nineteenth-century America.

Download Full-text