Social Mobility among Men: A Comparison of Neo-Marxian and Weberian Class Models.

In this study we operationalize neo-Marxian (Wright) and Weberian (Goldthorpe) class concepts and compare mobility patterns across three industrial countries (the United States, Sweden, and the former West Germany), using data from the Comparative Project on Class Structure and Class Consciousness. The analysis demonstrates that, despite differences in gross mobility between Wright's and Goldthorpe's class schemes, the within-nation fluidity patterns do not differ by class scheme for these three countries. The results based on Wright's and Goldthorpe's class frameworks lead to essentially the same conclusion about across-country differences or similarities in fluidity patterns. The results based on Wright's framework are informative of expected country differences in class impermeability as structured by the three dimensions of property, skill, and authority, whereas those based on Goldthorpe's reveal cross-country variations in barriers as structured by economic and occupational sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]