Document Type
Working Paper
Publication Date
6-5-2023
JEL Codes
A10, A20, D63, I3
Abstract
This paper explains how to use a macro-enabled Excel workbook, Mobility.xlsm, to teach basic concepts about intergenerational mobility as a standalone, one-time class or assignment at the undergraduate level. The focus is on explaining the results from Chetty et al. (2014) which tracks the parent’s place in the income distribution and then their adult children’s income ranking. Simulation is used to explain the bottom-to-top transition probability and the transition matrix with strong visuals and concrete numbers. The workbook is entirely self-contained and has a series of questions to lead students through the material. This paper has suggested answers and further areas of study. Download the freely-available Excel workbook at tiny.cc/mobilityexcel.
Author's RePEc Short ID
pba1125
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4822-038XRecommended Citation
Humberto Barreto, 2023. "One-shot Economic Mobility via Microsoft Excel," Working Papers 2023-01, DePauw University.
Comments
Thanks to Town Oh for suggesting more detail on how the file works in the Intro sheet and to Frank Howland for modeling child income with inheritance to maintain a log- normal distribution and better simulate the transition matrix. I also thank Guangjun Qu and my discussant at CTREE 2023, Thomas Ball, for helpful comments.