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For some lime, researchers have wanted to estimate models which include effects of origin, destination, and mobility on various dependent variables, but these models are underidentified. When identifying restrictions have been imposed, either the effects of mobility are insignificant or the restrictions are unreasonable. We argue that the most sensible area in which to expect effects of mobility is emotional well-being and propose two types of identifying restrictions on the mobility effects which allow the estimation of main and mobility effects. The first of these constrains the effect of slight upward mobility to be identical to the effect of no mobility. The second constrains the effects of upward and downward mobility to be exponential. For four of five measures of well-being, significant effects are estimated. For three of these, mobility in either direction is associated with improved mental health, For another, the effects of downward mobility are beneficial, and the effects of upward mobility are detrimental. it is critical to remember that these effects are + net of origin and destination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the reply of authors to the comments by sociologist Novral D. Glenn. Glenn maintains that the approach which authors employ to detect mobility effects in the presence of main effects of origin and destination is flawed for several reasons. Authors concede at the outset that the approach is not the ideal way to study mobility. The ultimate solution must involve attempts to measure the concepts for which the mobility terms serve as proxies and their employment of these models is primarily heuristic. Glenn dismisses our identifying restrictions as either being trivial or arbitrary. The first restriction that mobility in the U.S. is characterized by small upward steps. Thus, those who are slightly upwardly mobile are likely to find themselves in unusual circumstances since many of similar origins will have moved with them. The second constraint is based on the linear dependence of mobility of origin and destination by incorporating the consideration that the effect of mobility is likely to increase ad mobility increases.