Program

The Summer School lasts three days and it aims at attracting around 20 Phd students and young researchers who are working on inequalities. It offers them a set of four advanced short courses on the topic (2 keynotes and 2 internal lecturers). A set of selected students will have to opportunity to present their work during the Summer School.

Garance Genicot (Georgetown University)

Upward Mobility and the Great Gatsby Curve

This four-hour lecture will examine the dynamics of upward mobility and how it relates to income inequality, using the concept of the Great Gatsby Curve as a framework. The first half of the session will cover foundational concepts and measures of mobility, with a focus on the mechanisms and challenges of achieving upward mobility. After the break, we will explore the Great Gatsby Curve, discussing empirical evidence and theoretical frameworks that illuminate the relationship between inequality and mobility, and revisiting these ideas with a particular focus on upward mobility.

Francisco H. G. Ferreira (London School of Economics)

Inherited Inequality around the World

This lecture introduces inherited inequality as a concept that theoretically encompasses both (certain types) of intergenerational mobility and inequality of opportunity (IOp). The concept is less normatively demanding than the commonly held view of inequality of opportunity. It does not require that all personal characteristics be classified as either circumstances or efforts and dispenses with the Principle of Reward altogether. When compared to intergenerational mobility, the approach acknowledges that parental income (or education) may not be a sufficient statistic for the transmission of advantage across generations.

The lecture will also cover different empirical approaches to quantifying the extent of inequality which is inherited, including recent data-driven methods to address the problem of model selection in the presence of competing upward and downward biases. Examples from a large international comparison project will illustrate the analysis. A final section will zoom into Latin America and compare mobility and IOp measures in one of the world’s two most unequal regions.

Cecilia Garcia Peñalosa (CNRS, EHESS, AMSE)

Employment polarization and intergenerational mobility

This course will explore two related questions. The first is the economic geography of intergenerational mobility; the second is whether employment polarization has been one of the causes of the observed decline in intergenerational mobility.

Emmanuel Flachaire (Aix-Marseille Université, AMSE)

A Unified Approach to Measuring Inequality and Mobility

This lecture will present the measurement of inequality and mobility within a unified framework. It will examine methods for assessing disparities and movements within a population, utilizing both cardinal values, which allow for precise quantitative comparisons, and ordinal values, which focus on ranking and relative positioning.

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Students are strongly encouraged to present their research in workshop during the Summer School. This is a unique opportunity to have focused and valuable feedback from peers and from distinguished faculty. The schedule of paper presentations will be distributed in due course.

At the conclusion of the Summer School, participants will receive a certificate of attendance outlining the number of hours attended. Interested students should check with their universities to see if these hours are transferable into ECTS credits.