Stratification, social networks in the labour market, and intergenerational mobility

Young individuals, taking the locational choices made by their altruistic parents as given, decide whether or not to acquire skills. The use of location-specific word-of-mouth communication in the transmission of information about (skilled) job opportunities implies that the local social environment partly determines an individual's expected returns to education. Stratified equilibria, when they exist, are characterised by low intergenerational social mobility and inefficient use of talent. In addition, the equilibrium responses to factors that generally encourage education may, in stratified outcomes, be highly asymmetric across socio-economic groups. Non-stratified equilibria are likely to be destabilised by measures that encourage education.