Raíces que Pesan: Intergenerational Wealth and the Geography of Opportunity in Mexico

Abstract

This study analyzes intergenerational socioeconomic mobility in Mexico across space and time, using nationally representative data from the 2011 and 2017 waves of the ESRU-EMOVI survey. It constructs multidimensional socioeconomic status (SES) indices for parents and children using principal component analysis, enabling rank-based comparisons across four birth cohorts from 1947 to 1992. The findings reveal low and declining mobility, with strong persistence at both the top and bottom of the SES distribution. Mobility varies significantly by regional context: children from more industrialized states exhibit greater upward mobility, while those from rural, agriculture-dependent regions face steeper barriers. Notably, states with long-standing U.S.-bound migration networks show lower intergenerational SES persistence, suggesting that sustained migration exposure may disrupt the intergenerational transmission of advantage. This study offers the first cohort-based estimates of wealth mobility in Mexico, incorporates extensive contextual controls to account for structural regional differences, and introduces a novel approach to assessing the long-term effects of migration on mobility outcomes.