Fabian Pfeffer

Fabian Pfeffer is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Research Associate Professor in the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. He serves as the founding director of the Center for Inequality Dynamics (CID), leader of the Inequality Lab, and Co-Investigator of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID).

Dr. Pfeffer's research investigates social inequality and its maintenance across time and generations. His current work focuses on wealth inequality and its consequences for the next generation, social mobility processes across multiple generations, and the maintenance of inequality through education. His interdisciplinary approach combines sociological theory with advanced statistical methods to analyze complex patterns of wealth distribution and mobility.

Through his extensive publications from 2018-2025, Pfeffer has made significant contributions to understanding how wealth inequality shapes educational opportunities and life outcomes. His research demonstrates how family wealth influences children's educational attainment and how racial disparities in wealth perpetuate across generations. Notable methodological contributions include new approaches to analyzing mobility effects and developing the PSID-SHELF data resource.

Dr. Pfeffer has developed innovative visualizations that make complex patterns of wealth inequality accessible to broader audiences, including interactive tools showing intergenerational wealth mobility and racial disparities. His work on the Wealth and Mobility (WAM) Study, conducted with the IRS Statistics of Income unit, gathers comprehensive data on U.S. household wealth.

His research has important policy implications regarding wealth taxation and redistribution. Pfeffer's international comparative work reveals that national levels of income and wealth inequality are uncorrelated, challenging conventional wisdom in inequality research. His scholarship connects micro-level processes of social reproduction with macro-level patterns of inequality, providing a comprehensive understanding of how wealth shapes opportunities across generations.