MODELING TRENDS IN SOCIAL FLUIDITY - THE CORE MODEL AND A MEASURED-VARIABLE APPROACH COMPARED

In this paper we employ Erikson and Goldthorpe's core model of social fluidity and a 'measured variable' approach to analyse trends in socia l mobility among men in the Republic of Ireland. Our analyses provide no evidence that the changes associated with industrialization have le d to the increases in social fluidity predicted by the liberal theory of industrialism. The measured-variable approach we employ consistentl y provides a better fit to the Irish data than the core model. The app lication of the former model points to a degree of importance of the h ierarchy dimension which is not captured adequately by the core model. It also suggests that the well-known distinctiveness of the Irish soc ial mobility regime is open to explanation in terms of general dimensi ons rather than the peculiarities of the Irish case.