I evaluate Andrade and Thomsen (A&T)'s (2018) study, which concludes that Denmark is significantly more educationally mobile than the United States. I make three observations. First, A&T overstate the difference in educational mobility between Denmark and the United States. Both in international comparison and compared with differences in intergenerational income mobility, A&T's reported country differences in educational mobility are negligible. For example, whereas income mobility estimates reported in the literature differ by 300 to 600 percent between the two countries, the corresponding educational mobility estimates that A&T report differ by 10 to 20 percent. Second, I provide evidence suggesting that A&T's use of crude categorical education measures leads them to overstate these negligible differences. Third, A&T's empirical analyses of the U.S. data contain several statistical and data-related flaws, some so severe that they potentially undermine the credibility of their analyses. In sum, A&T's results are perfectly consistent with the existence of a mobility paradox very similar to what Sweden–United States comparisons show: although Denmark and the United States are dissimilar with respect to income mobility, they are similar with respect to educational mobility. Understanding the nature of this paradox should be a key concern for future mobility research.

中文翻译：

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丹麦是一个比美国更具教育流动性的社会吗？评论 Andrade 和 Thomsen，“丹麦和美国的代际教育流动”（2018 年）

我评估了 Andrade 和 Thomsen (A&T) (2018) 的研究，该研究得出的结论是，丹麦的教育流动性明显高于美国。我提出三个意见。首先，A&T 夸大了丹麦和美国之间教育流动性的差异。无论是在国际比较中还是与代际收入流动的差异相比，A&T 报告的国家在教育流动方面的差异都可以忽略不计。例如，尽管文献中报告的收入流动性估计在两国之间相差 300% 至 600%，但 A&T 报告中相应的教育流动性估计相差 10% 至 20%。其次，我提供的证据表明 A&T 使用粗略的分类教育措施导致他们夸大了这些微不足道的差异。第三，A&T 对美国数据的实证分析包含若干统计和数据相关缺陷，其中一些缺陷严重到可能破坏其分析的可信度。总而言之，A&T 的结果完全符合流动悖论的存在，这与瑞典与美国的比较所显示的非常相似：尽管丹麦和美国在收入流动方面不同，但在教育流动方面却相似。理解这种悖论的本质应该是未来流动性研究的一个关键问题。的结果完全符合流动悖论的存在，这与瑞典与美国的比较所显示的非常相似：尽管丹麦和美国在收入流动方面不同，但在教育流动方面却相似。理解这种悖论的本质应该是未来流动性研究的一个关键问题。的结果完全符合流动悖论的存在，这与瑞典与美国的比较所显示的非常相似：尽管丹麦和美国在收入流动方面不同，但在教育流动方面却相似。理解这种悖论的本质应该是未来流动性研究的一个关键问题。