Regional intergenerational mobility in Ecuador: many lands in one country

Abstract

We analyse the regional differences in eight measures of intergenerational mobility across cantons in Ecuador. Within-country estimates show heterogeneity with lands of opportunity, such as the Galápagos, and areas where poverty traps prevail, namely the Central Andes. This study also finds that better opportunities for children are associated with locations that have higher levels of migration, schooling, agriculture, family self-employment and oil activity, while inequality and the share of Indigenous people provide worse opportunities for mobility. These relationships are reinforced by spillovers across space, which, in Ecuador, are more likely to result in poverty cycles than privilege ones.