Trends in Intragenerational Income Mobility in the Western States of Germany and the United States (1984-2006)

Using the Shorrocks R, we compare trends in intragenerational income mobility for the western states of Germany and the United States (1984-2006) and test the sensitivity of our results to the starting point and number of years considered. We find that our mobility estimates do not converge to a constant over time so the starting year chosen for the analysis matters. We conclude that income mobility declined in the western states of Germany over time and is now much closer to income mobility in the United States than was the case in the 1980s.