Why do some people express optimism about their future social mobility, while others have a pessimistic view? This paper examines whether and how local wealth inequality is associated with individuals’ pessimistic or optimistic expectations of their future social mobility in South Korea. It argues that people in districts with greater economic inequality will have more pessimistic views of their future upward mobility, as high local inequality raises concerns among the public that their opportunities to move up the social ladder may be receding. Using economic inequality at the local level calculated using actual real estate transaction prices in South Korea from 2011 to 2018, the empirical results confirm the negative association between local inequality and individuals’ assessments of their future social mobility, particularly among residents in less affluent districts, those with low incomes, and those with a subjective awareness of belonging to a lower social class.

中文翻译：

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陷入不平等的社会：财富不平等和对韩国未来社会流动性的悲观前景


为什么有些人对他们未来的社会流动性表示乐观，而另一些人则持悲观态度？本文研究了当地财富不平等是否以及如何与个人对其未来社会流动性的悲观或乐观预期相关联。它认为，经济不平等程度较高的地区的人们将对他们未来的向上流动持更悲观的看法，因为高度的地方不平等引起了公众的担忧，即他们向上晋升的机会可能正在减少。使用韩国 2011 年至 2018 年的实际房地产交易价格计算的地方经济不平等，实证结果证实了地方不平等与个人对其未来社会流动性的评估之间的负相关，特别是在不太富裕地区的居民、低收入人群和主观意识属于较低社会阶层的人中。