Mining for delinking children’s occupation to that of their parents in Africa

In this paper, we explore the effects of mineral discoveries and productions on intergenerational occupational mobility in Africa. Our study covers approximately 3.4 million individuals across 2690 districts from 27 African countries. We find that mineral discoveries and productions positively affect occupational mobility for both blue- and white-collar jobs in Africa for individuals exposed to the mineral sites and living in districts with discoveries. Specifically, the likelihood of upward blue-collar mobility increases by up to 2.3 percentage points (pp.) when exposed to mineral activities, while the likelihood of downward blue-collar mobility decreases by around 4 pp. Likewise, the likelihood of upward white-collar mobility increases by up to 1.6 pp. when exposed to mining activities, while the likelihood of downward mobility decreases by up to 13.3 pp. These effects are more pronounced for individuals born after the discoveries and the start of production. Our results also reveal some heterogeneous effects based on factors such as the migration status, African regions, the size of mineral discoveries, gender, and the urban–rural divide. In addition, we uncover that the demand for skilled workers (demand-side factor) and education (supply-side factor) are key channels through which mineral discoveries and productions affect occupational mobility.