Income inequality and social mobility in 100 years of German industrial history- A case study of workers and employees of the Maschine Factory Esslingen (Maschinenfabrik Esslingen)

人们对收入不平等和社会流动性及其决定因素有很大的社会和学术兴趣。对收入不平等的实证研究主要是基于宏观聚集数据，基于微观数据的代际社会流动性研究。从更长远的角度研究社会流动性的研究很少，因为深入的分析需要非常详细的个人数据，如出生年份、性别、教育程度和工资，不仅是个人本人的数据，而且是父亲的数据，最好是其他家庭成员的数据。像这样的数据往往是不完整的，只有短时间或小样本才能获得。本研究项目基于Esslingen机器厂(MaschinenFabrik Esslingen)的所有人事档案，这些档案创建于该公司从1846年成立到1965年解散期间。总共有大约10.000个文件。这个独特的来源可以用来研究收入不平等、生活水平、工作条件和员工从工人到首席执行官的社会流动性，时间跨度超过100年。此外，还可以通过一个单一的案例研究，探索收入不平等和收入差距长期发展的宏观经济视角，以及对个人社会流动性的微观经济分析。此外，这一以前未开发的来源包含独特的个人信息，由于隐私限制，现代来源无法获取这些信息。除了婚姻状况、性别、出生年份等信息外，这还包括关于职业网络中个人和/或家庭关系的进一步信息、个人推荐信和对前雇主和上级以及政党和宗教成员身份的工作表现的评估。基于这些信息，我们将调查正式和非正式社交网络是否以及如何影响社会流动性，以及这种关系是否与特定的制度框架联系在一起。

There is a large social and academic interest in income inequality and social mobility and its determinants. The empirical research of income inequality is largely based on aggregated macro data, studies on intergenerational social mobility on microdata. Studies on social mobility in a longer-run perspective are scarce, because a profound analysis requires very detailed individual data such as the year of birth, gender, educational qualifications and wages not only for the person him/herself, but also for the father and ideally other family members. Data like this is often incomplete, available only for short periods or small samples.This research project is based on all personnel files of the Machine Factory Esslingen (Maschinenfabrik Esslingen), which were created in the period from the establishment of the company in 1846 to its dissolution in 1965. In total there are about 10.000 files. This unique source can be used to study income inequality, living standards, working conditions and the social mobility of employees from workers to CEOs for a period over 100 years. In addition, it is possible to explore the macroeconomic perspective on the long-term development of income inequality and and the microeconomic analysis of the social mobility of individuals using one single case study.In addition, this previously untapped source contains unique personal information that is not accessible in modern sources because of privacy restrictions. In addition to information on marital status, gender, year of birth, etc., this includes further information on personal and /or family relationships within a career network, personal references and assessments of the work performance of previous employers and superiors as well as party and religious memberships. Based on this information, we will investigate whether and how formal and informal social networks influence social mobility and whether this relationship is tied to a certain institutional framework.