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Inequality and
Surnames
Gregory Clark
University of California, Davis
and LSE
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Simple Measure of Social Mobility
Correlation between parents and children
on any measure of social status
0 implies complete mobility
1 implies complete rigidity
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Social Mobility and Inequality
closely linked
For a given set of shocks to income or
wealth each generation (e), long run
distribution of outcomes depends on
intergenerational correlation b
𝑉𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑦 =𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒(𝑒)
1−𝑏2
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Conventional Picture of Social Mobility
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Implications, conventional estimates
Mobility Rates High
Share of social status variation inherited low
– 4% Scandinavia, 22% USA
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Implications, conventional estimates
There is a social mobility problem.
Mobility rates too low in some societies.
Enormous human potential squandered.
Social Democratic Nordic countries are achieving faster social mobility than free market USA
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Implications, conventional estimates
What matters to social success?
Culture
Education
Social networks
Not genetic inheritance of abilities
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Limitations
Looks just at one generation
Looks just at individual aspects of status
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Surname Method
Measure social mobility by tracing status by
surname lineages – e.g. Clark, Smith, Bazalgette
Surnames link us to previous generations
through the patriline – in England we can link
some people to their ancestors of 1066 – 32
generations
E.g. Norman surnames Montgomery,
Baskerville, Punchard
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Surname Method
Based on current mobility measures common
surnames should rapidly lose status information
The rate at which they loose that information –
the rate of social entropy - can be translated into
the intergenerational correlation of status
Surnames track one line of descent, but that line
assumed representative (assortative mating)
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Surprising and universal finding
Surnames move to average status very slowly – 10-
15 generations
Implied intergenerational correlation of status 0.7-
0.8
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Table 2: Rare Oxbridge versus non-Oxbridge Surnames, 1800-29
Oxbridge
Non-Oxbridge
Agassiz Brickdale Agnerv Bodgett
Anquetil Brooshooft Allbert Boolman
Atthill Bunduck Arfman Bradsey
Baitson Buttanshaw Bainchley Breckill
Barnardiston Cantis Bante Callaly
Bazalgette Casamajor Barthorn Capildi
Belfour Chabot Bavey Carville
Beridge Charretie Bedborne Cavet
Bleeck Cheslyn Bemond Chanterfield
Boinville Clarina Berrton Chesslow
Boscawen Coham Bideford Chubham
Bramston Conyngham Bisace Clemishaw
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Relative Oxbridge Attendance for Elite
Rare Surnames 1800-29
1
2
4
8
16
32
64
1530 1590 1650 1710 1770 1830 1890 1950 2010
Rel
ativ
e R
epre
sen
tati
on
0.77
0.82
0.83
0.77
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Family vs Surname Wealth Correlation,
England
Period of Death
Individual Wealth
Correlation
Surname Wealth
Correlation
1888-1917 0.48 0.71
1918-59 0.41 0.69
1960-87 0.41 0.73
1999-2012 0.46 0.83
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Patriline – what about daughters?
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Assortative Mating Pre-1880
(richer lineages) – Wealth, England
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Example of surprising persistence of status
– Darwin great-great-grandchildren
10 children, but only 27 great-
great-grandchildren
11 notable enough to have
Wikipedia pages/Times Obits
6 university professors, 4 authors,
a painter, 3 medical doctors, a
well-known conservationist, and a
film director
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Countries England, 1300-2012
Sweden, 1700-2012
USA, 1920-2012
Chile, 1950-2012
India, 1860-2012
Japan, 1860-2012
China, 1650-2012
Taiwan, 1949-2012
Costa Rica, 1950-2014
Australia, 1870-2014
Hungary, 1860-2017
Russia, 1879-2017
Barcelona, 1500-1860
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Intergenerational correlation
measured through surnames
High 0.7-0.8
Little variation across societies and epochs
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Conventional versus Surname
Estimates of Status Persistence,
1950-2012
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
Inte
rgen
erat
ion
al C
orr
elat
ion
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Sweden as another example
Elite surnames from 1600-1800
Counts/Barons
Untitled Nobility
Latinized Surnames
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Conventional Picture of Social Mobility
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Riddarhuset, Stockholm
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Figure 3: The History of Ennoblement in Sweden
Source: Almenberg and Dreber, 2009, 178.
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
1600 1700 1800 1900 2000
Num
ber
of
Fam
ilies
Nobles Created
Net Stock Families
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Aristocratic Surnames
Domestic - embodying status elements such as
Gyllen (gold), Silfver (silver), Adler (eagle),
Leijon (lion), and Ehren (honor)
Leijonhufvud
Gyllenstierna
Oxenstierna
Ehrensvärd
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Latinized Surnames
Celsius
Aquilonius
Arrhenius
Boethius
Bruzelius
Cnattingius
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Representation of Surname Types
Among Doctors, 1890-2011
1
2
4
8
1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000
Rel
ativ
e R
epre
sen
tati
on
Titled Nobles
Other Nobles
Latinized
Correlation 0.72
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Elite Surnames in the Swedish Royal
Academies
0.015625
0.0625
0.25
1
4
16
64
1740 1770 1800 1830 1860 1890 1920 1950 1980 2010
Rel
ativ
e R
epre
sen
tati
on
Cohort
Elite Correlation 0.87
..son Correlation 0.87
0.87
0.87
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Summary Surname b Estimates by
Period, Sweden
Group
1700-1900
1890-1979
1950-2012
Attorneys - - 0.71
Physicians - 0.67 0.88
University Students 0.78 0.85 0.66
Academicians 0.89 0.75 0.84
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Hungary, 1946-2017
0.3
0.5
1.0
1945 1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005 2015
Elite
Surn
ame
Mea
n
Generation
..y versus Top
20
Fit v top 20
ρ = 0.86
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Why are the conventional and
surname results so different?
Conventional estimates focus on individual
aspects of status
Surnames are capturing what happens to
underlying overall status
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Social Status Across Multiple
Generations
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For each individual:
Status phenotype – measured status on
variety of aspects
Underlying status genotype – status that
is transmitted to next generation – can be
inferred from the status of your lineage
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Surname Estimates
Long run social mobility
Social mobility of social groups – ethnic, racial,
religious, immigrants
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More Fundamental Question –
what transmits social genotype?
Family Resources?
Family Culture?
Social Networks?
Genes?
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Surprising Evidence – most social status
transmission is genetic
Patterns of inheritance
Adoption studies
Groups that marry endogamously
How elites get formed
Shocks to family size in England 1800-1880
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Social status USA 2012 – Doctors per 1000
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Rel
ativ
e R
epre
sen
tati
on
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Conclusions
There is equality of opportunity in most
societies
Most social ability biologically inherited –
and gets rewarded
This is not a pessimistic result
But it is an argument for limiting
inequalities.
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The Son Also Rises. Surnames and the
History of Social Mobility