In a series of works published during the early 1970s, and especially in L’inégalité des chances (1973a), Boudon introduced a new method for studying intergenerational social mobility. He developed a simulation model that explains the attainment of social status through the interplay of one's social background and academic accomplishments. In this model, each individual within a given generation goes through two selection agencies, first the school system to attain a certain level of education, and second the labor market to secure a social status linked to the type of employment acquired. The comparison between the attained status in the workforce and the status of one's parents measures social mobility. Within a set of specific, well-defined assumptions, this model computes the trajectory of a particular generation from its point of origin (parents’ status) to its eventual position (offspring's status), thereby determining the resultant intergenerational mobility. During the period around 1970, when Boudon was engaged in writing on these topics, all computations required by the model had to be executed manually. However, in this paper, we capitalize on the computational capabilities of spreadsheets to yield instantaneous results. Consequently, we are able to conduct a more comprehensive analysis of the influence on social mobility of various sets of parameters, particularly focusing on the two crucial parameter sets: the demand for education and the class structure.

The first section provides a concise overview of Boudon's model, while second section delves into his index of intergenerational mobility. Subsequent sections explore the effect on school attainment and social mobility of different values of the parameters of the model. The third section investigates the consequences of changes in demand for education, the fourth section, of changes in class structure (from a less to a more egalitarian society), and the fifth section, of changes in the degree of “meritocracy” (a more “meritocratic” system is understood here as a system in which an advanced educational level increases the likelihood to reach a higher social class). The sixth section addresses the classic Boudon–Bourdieu debate on the impact and significance of “cultural inheritance” on intergenerational mobility. Last, in the final section, we analyze the relevance of what Boudon calls the “language of systems,” and the limits of the “language of correlations,” in the study of social mobility.