PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Lars J. Lefgren
AU  - Jaren C. Pope
AU  - David P. Sims
TI  - Contemporary State Policies and Intergenerational Income Mobility
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.57.4.0717-8921R1
DP  - 2020 May 12
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 0717-8921R1
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2020/05/04/jhr.57.4.0717-8921R1.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2020/05/04/jhr.57.4.0717-8921R1.full
AB  - Using county-level analysis, this study demonstrates that there exists at most a minor relationship between the large, contemporary geographical variation in U.S. intergenerational income mobility and state-level policies. In addition to investigating the effects of specific policies, we introduce an omnibus test for state policy differences in total, based on the principle of geographic discontinuities. We further explore the discrepancy between these findings and the expected efficacy of mobility-enhancing policies seen in common, applied economic models and successful program evaluations. We conclude that the gap between quasi-experimental evaluations and observed policy effects presents pressing questions for further study.