IGM researcher presents at GDRP Research Dissemination Workshop in Dar-es-Salaam

Sam Jones, UNU-WIDER Research Fellow and researcher at the Inclusive Growth in Mozambique (IGM) Programme has been invited by the University of Dar Es Salaam School of Economics to present at the ‘Growth and Development Research Project (GDRP) Research Dissemination Workshop’ on 17 November 2021. The workshop, held on 17-19 November at Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania,  is organized in collaboration with the University to Copenhagen under the topic Issues in Growth and Development in Tanzania.

Sam Jones will present a recent paper produced under the IGM programme, How far does the apple really fall from the tree? Practical guidance on measuring intergenerational mobility from a simulation framework.

About the study

Despite the importance attributed to intergenerational educational mobility in the process of development, there remains little consensus on how mobility should be measured. The paper presents analytical and empirical evidence regarding the sensitivity of alternative estimators to different forms of measurement error and data transformations.

To do so, the researchers develop a flexible simulation model, allowing them to quantify the bias associated with different empirical choices. Their evidence suggests that use of an upwards mobility estimator, complemented by an out-performance metric, based on a reference distribution transformation is comparatively most robust.

Applying these recommendations to the case of Mozambique, using complete census records from 1997, 2007, and 2017, the researchers find a high degree of provincial heterogeneity, with a marked north-south gradient in mobility. Moreover, they identify a clear slowdown in educational mobility between 2007 and 2017, especially in the northern region, suggesting the education system is not delivering consistent gains to children across the country.