The Global Database on Intergenerational Mobility (GDIM) compiled by this study significantly expands the evidence base on intergenerational mobility in education by providing estimates for 153 countries representing about 97 percent of the world’s population born in the 1980s.<sup>2</sup> For 114 countries, or 87 percent of the world’s population, estimates of mobility span four decades: from those born in the 1950s to those born in the 1980s. The 1980s cohort, those born between January 1, 1980 and December 31, of 1989, represent the youngest generation of adults who would have completed their education at the time of data collection (as most survey data used are from 2010 or later). For each country we identified the survey data best suited for the estimation of intergenerational mobility in education.

We consider two concepts of IGM. Absolute mobility measures the share of individuals who surpass the education of their parents. Relative mobility captures the degree to which individual socioeconomic success is independent of the socioeconomic success of one’s parents. We will focus on mobility in education for several reasons.<sup>3</sup> Firstly, human capital is a key aspect of economic well-being. Secondly, intergenerational data on education is more widely available than on income. Thirdly, the estimation of educational mobility involves fewer methodological challenges. Unlike income, the level of education, once acquired, does not vary across an individual’s lifecycle. Fourthly, individuals can report their parents’ education level with a high degree of precision, whereas the same is not true for income, making it possible to study mobility in education without panel data. A limitation of focusing on education mobility is that it does not capture distortions in the labor market, such as the extent to which access to good jobs is contingent on the socioeconomic background one is born into.

Our database makes it possible, for the first time, to paint a truly global picture of intergenerational mobility. This in turn allows us to test whether insights from the existing literature, which has mostly focused on developed countries, generalize to developing countries. We test two main hypotheses: First, whether absolute mobility is lower in the developed world where education levels are higher on average, making it harder for the next generation to surpass the education levels of their parents. Second, whether relative mobility increases with national income levels. Richer countries have the necessary resources to fund public interventions that compensate for private disadvantages (e.g. provide high quality public education for children born into disadvantaged backgrounds). This would be consistent with the findings of Chetty et al. (2014), who show that lower levels of intergenerational mobility are more likely to be found in the lagging areas of the United States.

> 2 In parallel to our study, Brunori et al. (2021) developed the “Equal Chances” database that includes estimates of intergenerational income mobility for 27 countries as well as estimates of inequality of opportunity for 47 countries. Our estimates of intergenerational mobility in education for 153 countries are also included in this database.

> 3 Alesina et al. (2021), Neidhöfer et al. (2018), Asher et al. (2018), and Hertz et al. (2007) similarly focus on education, arguably for the same reasons.

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