Contemporary Chinese Intergenerational Social Mobility

Referring to Liuxin’s class schema and based on mobility regimes in different periods and Log-Linear Model analysis of CGSS2006data, this paper finds that China’s intergeneration mobility shows the feature of periodicity, generally rigidization and partially open. Intergeneration mobility pattern and elite’s intergeneration inheritance are the two focus of China intergeneration mobility study. For the problem of China’s intergeneration mobility pattern, industrialism theory, constant mobility theory and periodic&rigidization theory have different opinion. But industrialism theory and constant mobility theory neglect the importance of state institutions in intergeneration mobility. From the point view of new institutionalism, periodic&rigidization theory argues that China’s intergeneration mobility has periodic features and is getting more and more rigid. This paper supports most arguments of this theory, but also finds that it overstates the rigidity level. The result of mobility table analysis shows that, under the control of redistribution, intergeneration inheritance is relatively lower before reform. At the beginning of reform, mobility is relatively fair but the advantageous class started to pass their advantageous resources. In reform-deepening phase, generational inheritance and union of advantageous class reinforce, but working class and farmer have more mobility than before. For the problem of intergeneration mobility of socialist elites, different theories have different opinions on whether elites are homogeneous or heterogeneous. Through mobility table analysis,this paper finds that the administrative elite, market elite and professional elite have very high generational inheritance but they are not homogeneous class. Although the professional elite have the highest inheritance and more mobility with the administrative elite, they are getting open while the administrative elite and market elite are getting closed.