What can Mathematical Models Tell us About Occupational Mobility

A description is given of most models and methods which have recently been proposed for describing aggregate movement over a set of occupational categories, both during a single interval of time and over a sequence of intervals; contingency tables and Markov chains are emphasized. Substantial movement (in an aggregate sense) is “explained” by simple effects of supply, demand, age of respondent, etc., without knowledge of nondemographic variables such as respondent's education, aspirations, etc. Related but unpublished findings by the author and others are given and numerous possible directions for investigation are suggested.