Book Chapter

Socioeconomic mobility and inequality persistence. The area of Barcelona, 16th-19th centuries

  • Gabriel Brea-Martínez
  • Joana-Maria Pujadas-Mora

Preindustrial social mobility is still primarily understudied in present times. Most preindustrial and early-industrial social mobility research focused strictly on occupational mobility, not fully capturing the substantial socioeconomic disparities within occupational groups that presumably always existed. In this study, we aim to contribute to the literature by estimating long-term trends in intergenerational social mobility in Barcelona and its hinterland. We use the Barcelona Historical Marriage Database to assess disparities between socially and non-socially mobile individuals within occupational groups through unique data covering occupational prestige and economic information via genealogical reconstitutions. Using a combined SES approach (occupational prestige and economic capacity) can capture both class differences and within-occupation disparities. Socioeconomic mobility increased since the beginning of the 18th century, during Catalan protoindustrialization, but with significant class disparities. SES persistence increased for Non-Manuals' children, stagnated for Artisans' children, and declined for Farmers'. Moreover, within occupational groups, we find that intergenerational class-mobile individuals had always been disadvantaged in socioeconomic terms compared to the immobile, a constant characteristic from preindustrial times until the end of the 19th century. These results suggest that socially immobile (intergenerationally) individuals always benefited from the privilege of having fathers within the same occupational class, independent of the period, which recalls the sociological concept of the class ceiling.

  • Keywords:
  • Social Mobility,
  • Inequality,
  • Long-term,
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Gabriel Brea-Martínez

Lund School of Economics and Management, Sweden - ORCID: 0000-0001-9652-6231

Joana-Maria Pujadas-Mora

Open University of Catalonia, Spain - ORCID: 0000-0002-4975-639X

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  • Publication Year: 2025
  • Pages: 419-437
  • Content License: CC BY 4.0
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  • Publication Year: 2025
  • Content License: CC BY 4.0
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Chapter Information

Chapter Title

Socioeconomic mobility and inequality persistence. The area of Barcelona, 16th-19th centuries

Authors

Gabriel Brea-Martínez, Joana-Maria Pujadas-Mora

Language

English

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0667-9.20

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2025

Copyright Information

© 2025 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Bibliographic Information

Book Title

La mobilità sociale nelle società preindustriali: tendenze, cause ed effetti (secc. XIII-XVIII) / Social mobility in pre-industrial societies: tendencies, causes and effects (13th-18th centuries)

Editors

Angela Orlandi

Peer Reviewed

Number of Pages

612

Publication Year

2025

Copyright Information

© 2025 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Publisher Name

Firenze University Press

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0667-9

ISBN Print

979-12-215-0666-2

eISBN (pdf)

979-12-215-0667-9

eISBN (xml)

979-12-215-0668-6

Series Title

Datini Studies in Economic History

Series ISSN

2975-1241

Series E-ISSN

2975-1195

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