A nation of immigrants: Assimilation and economic outcomes in the age of mass migration

Ran Abramitzky, Leah Platt Boustan, Katherine Eriksson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

225 Scopus citations

Abstract

During the Age of Mass Migration (1850-1913), the United States maintained an open border, absorbing 30 million European immigrants. Prior cross-sectional work finds that immigrants initially held lower-paid occupations than natives but converged over time. In newly assembled panel data, we show that, in fact, the average immigrant did not face a substantial occupation-based earnings penalty upon first arrival and experienced occupational advancement at the same rate as natives. Cross-sectional patterns are driven by biases from declining arrival cohort skill level and departures of negatively selected return migrants. We show that assimilation patterns vary substantially across sending countries and persist in the second generation.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)467-506
Number of pages40
JournalJournal of Political Economy
Volume122
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2014
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Economics and Econometrics

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