Social Capital, Families, Friendships, and Inter-generational Mobility - Program on Education Policy and Governance Working Papers Series - Working Paper

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Fahsai

The paper examines how social capital generated within families shapes inter-generational mobility in the United States, compared with other social capital forms. It positions community capital as secondary while identifying student achievement and friendships between students and adults as moderators. Using county-level mobility rates regressed on indexes for four social capital forms, achievement, demographic controls, and state fixed effects, it finds mobility is driven mainly by the density of family capital, followed by community capital.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages36

Reading Time1 h 31 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Objective, Background, Method, Results, Conclusion

Inter-generational Mobility

Definitions and Context

Program on Education Policy and Governance Working Papers Series Social Capital, Families, Friendships, and Inter-generational Mobility Paul E. Peterson, Angela K. Dills and M. Danish Shakeel 1 PEPG 24-01 Harvard Kennedy School 79 JFK Street, Taubman 304 Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: 617-495-7976 Fax: 617-496-4428 [www.hks.harvard.edu/pepg/](www.hks.harvard.edu/pepg/) 1 Peterson: Harvard University; Dills: Western Carolina University; Shakeel: The University of Buckingham, UK Social Capital, Families, Friendships, and Inter-generational Mobility Paul E. Peterson ([ppeterso@gov.harvard.edu](ppeterso@gov.harvard.edu)) Program on Education Policy and Governance, Department of Government Harvard University, USA [https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8073-5186](https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8073-5186) Angela K. Dills ([akdills@email.wcu.edu](akdills@email.wcu.edu)) School of Economics, Management, and Project Management, Western Carolina University, USA [https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9527-9902](https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9527-9902) & M. Danish Shakeel ([danish.shakeel@buckingham.ac.uk](danish.shakeel@buckingham.ac.uk)) E. G. West Centre for Education Policy, The University of Buckingham, UK [https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7700-8540](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7700-8540) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. A prior version of this paper was presented before the 80th Annual Midwest Political Science Association conference, April 13-16, 2023, Chicago, and the 45th Annual Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management conference, November 9-11, Atlanta. Michael Boskin, Raj Chetty, David Campbell, William Howell, David McMillon, Robert Putnam, David Sikkink, Martin West, and Scott Winship commented on earlier drafts ofthis paper. Michael Poor and Antonio Wendland provided administrative assistance. The Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University supported the project through Walton Family Foundation grant \#00107915 . We own any remaining errors. Abstract Objective: Social capital generated by relationships within families has a greater impact on inter-generational mobility in the United States than other forms, though community capital plays a secondary role, and student achievement and school and adult friendships serve as moderators. Background: Social capital is human capital produced by the “trustworthiness of the social environment, information-flow capability of the social structure, and norms accompanied by sanctions (Coleman, 1998, p. S119) .” Social capital produced by families (Coleman, 1988), communities (Putnam & Campbell, 2012), political trust and engagement (Rupasingha et al., 2006), and cross-class friendships (Chetty et. al., 2022) contributes to inter-generational mobility within the United States. Researchers disagree as to the relative importance of each form of social capital. Method: County-level mobility rates are regressed on county-level indexes of the four forms of social capital, student achievement, demographic controls, and state fixed effects. Estimates based upon unweighted observations from 1333 to 1818 counties, depending on model. Results: Intergenerational mobility rates are largely a function of county’s density of family capital (marriage rates and two-parent households), followed by community capital (community organizations, religious congregations, and volunteering) . Student achievement in grades 3-8, together with cross-class friendships in school and adulthood, moderate relationships. Conclusion: To enhance mobility, public policy needs to enhance the lives of disadvantaged young people at home, in school, and in communities, not simply by modifying friendship patterns. Keywords: social capital; achievement; mobility; family, community, friendships In America,“no Man continues long a Labourer for others, but gets a Plantation of his own,” said Benjamin Franklin (1751), giving rise to the idea that the United States was a“land of opportunity.” In the cen

FAQs

Which factors moderate the relationship between social capital and mobility?

Student achievement in grades 3–8, along with cross-class friendships in school and adulthood, moderate the relationships.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Fahsai