Getting OCC crosswalk proportion bridges

I am trying to analyze occupations (OCC2010) over time. I understand that even with harmonization, some codes are only introduced at particular points in time (1971, 1983, 2003), and some have dramatic shifts in their total counts (like in this post comparability of ASEC OCC10LY over time - #2 by JeffBloem) at those same points.

Would it be possible to download or be sent the crosswalk proportion bridges (i.e. “the proportion of each occupation as it broke out into more specific occupations or as it was combined with others into a more general occupation” as described in IPUMS CPS: descr: OCC1990) so that I can smooth some of these jumps?

Although we do not have the exact information it sounds like you are requesting available for download, we do provide links to extensive documentation on how the harmonized occupation and industry codes are created. Here is a link to a working paper by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that discusses the process used to construct and test the OCC1990 variable. Here is a link to our own essay on the construction of the harmonized occupation and industry codes. Finally, here are links to the existing crosswalk tables available for occupation and industry variables.

If you are interested in smoothing jumps in the counts of specific occupation codes over time, you may want to consider using a more aggregated list of occupation codes. For the OCC2010 variable specifically, the description tab lists the more general categories of occupations. I hope this helps.

Thanks for your response, Jeff! The existing crosswalk tables you linked are very helpful – is there a reason the occupation table for 1980-1990 is missing? Additionally, is there a table for 2000-2010?

Besides a few “allocated” and “not elsewhere categorized” categories, the occupations codes in 1980 and 1990 are essentially exactly the same. I’ll send a note to the IPUMS USA Team asking them to make a 1980-1990 occupation crosswalk table, but this task should be relatively straightforward using the 1980 and 1990 coding schemes linked in the previous sentence. Finally, regarding 2000-2010, this page shows the relationship of these codes.