TY - JOUR
T1 - A nation of immigrants
T2 - Assimilation and economic outcomes in the age of mass migration
AU - Abramitzky, Ran
AU - Boustan, Leah Platt
AU - Eriksson, Katherine
PY - 2014/6
Y1 - 2014/6
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
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U2 - 10.1086/675805
DO - 10.1086/675805
M3 - Article
C2 - 26609186
AN - SCOPUS:84902828945
SN - 0022-3808
VL - 122
SP - 467
EP - 506
JO - Journal of Political Economy
JF - Journal of Political Economy
IS - 3
ER -