Were there ever persistent social classes? Economic and Social Mobility, 1250-2009?

是否存在持续存在的社会阶层？

• 批准号: 0962351
• 负责人: Gregory Clark
• 金额: $ 13.95万
• 依托单位: University of California-Davis
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-02-01 至 2013-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0962351&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Were; there; ever; persistent; social

This research project will use information on the distribution of surnames in England and the USA to answer the question "Do we live in a world of long run equality of opportunity?" To answer this question we need to be able to trace the fortunes of the descendants of the rich and poor over many generations, and surnames supply this measure.The project will first measure long run economic and social mobility in England from 1236 to 2009, using three methods: common surnames (1250-2009), rare surnames (1559-2009), and the linking of testators with rare surnames with their grandchildren, great grandchildren and even more remote descendants (1450-2009). Common surnames, for example, when formed in the middle ages around 1300 often signified upper or lower class status. What was the later wealth and social status of the descendants of these original social classes? The project thus will test whether there were ever persistent social classes in England. It will also measure the speed of regression to the mean in each era. Did social mobility increase with the arrival first of the Industrial Revolution? Was it further increased in the nineteenth century by universal public education? The preliminary indications are that all through history England displayed a high degree of economic and social mobility, with no groups persistently staying above or below average. Common surnames like ?Smith,? for example, had lost all information on social status by 1650. The rate of social mobility may have increased between the medieval and the modern world, but this is not obvious from the preliminary data. Even medieval England with its complete long run mobility thus differs from the modern USA, where groups such as Black Americans have remained persistently below average income even in the last 40 years, and others such as Jewish Americans have remained persistently above average incomes. What features of England, even before modern education and taxation systems, allowed for such complete long run social mobility? And why have they not been found in the modern US?

这个研究项目将使用关于英国和美国姓氏分布的信息来回答“我们生活在一个长期机会平等的世界吗？“为了回答这个问题，我们需要能够追踪富人和穷人后代的财富，姓氏提供了这个衡量标准。该项目将首先衡量1236年至2009年英格兰的长期经济和社会流动性，使用三种方法：常见姓氏（1250-2009年）、罕见姓氏（1559-2009年），以及将罕见姓氏的立遗嘱人与其孙子、曾孙甚至更远的后代联系起来（1450-2009年）。 例如，常见的姓氏形成于1300年左右的中世纪，通常表示上层或下层阶级的地位。 这些原始社会阶级的后代后来的财富和社会地位如何？ 因此，该项目将测试英国是否存在持续的社会阶级。 它还将衡量每个时代回归平均值的速度。 随着工业革命的到来，社会流动性增加了吗？ 在世纪，普及公共教育是否进一步提高了这种能力？ 初步迹象表明，在整个历史上，英格兰显示出高度的经济和社会流动性，没有任何群体持续高于或低于平均水平。 常见的姓氏？史密斯？例如，到1650年，已经失去了所有关于社会地位的信息。 从中世纪到现代世界，社会流动率可能有所增加，但从初步数据来看，这并不明显。 因此，即使是中世纪的英国，其完整的长期流动性也与现代美国不同，在现代美国，黑人等群体甚至在过去40年中一直低于平均收入，而犹太裔美国人等其他群体则一直高于平均收入。 在现代教育和税收制度之前，英国的哪些特征允许如此完整的长期社会流动？ 为什么在现代美国没有发现？