Income mobility in Spain.

The purpose of this paper is to draw an overall picture of the main determinants of income mobility in Spain. We use data from the first five waves of the European Community Household Panel (1994/1998). Two key questions are considered in the paper. First, we make an attempt to characterise the structure of income mobility through a three-fold decomposition: structural, exchange and growth mobility. Second, the main determinants of income dynamics are identified by estimating the individual contribution of different demographic groups and the income source changes. Our results confirm re-rankings in the income scale as the most relevant component when explaining income mobility in Spain. Regarding socio-demographic features, the type and size of households are the most relevant characteristics for income mobility. The decomposition by income sources also allows us to identify earnings and property as the incomes most linked to longitudinal income changes.