TY - JOUR
T1 - Europe's tired, poor, huddled masses
T2 - Self-selection and economic outcomes in the age of mass migration
AU - Abramitzky, Ran
AU - Boustan, Leah Platt
AU - Eriksson, Katherine
PY - 2012/8
Y1 - 2012/8
N2 - During the age of mass migration (1850-1913), one of the largest migration episodes in history, the United States maintained a nearly open border, allowing the study of migrant decisions unhindered by entry restrictions. We estimate the return to migration while accounting for migrant selection by comparing Norway-to-US migrants with their brothers who stayed in Norway in the late nineteenth century. We also compare fathers of migrants and nonmigrants by wealth and occupation. We find that the return to migration was relatively low (70 percent) and that migrants from urban areas were negatively selected from the sending population.
AB - During the age of mass migration (1850-1913), one of the largest migration episodes in history, the United States maintained a nearly open border, allowing the study of migrant decisions unhindered by entry restrictions. We estimate the return to migration while accounting for migrant selection by comparing Norway-to-US migrants with their brothers who stayed in Norway in the late nineteenth century. We also compare fathers of migrants and nonmigrants by wealth and occupation. We find that the return to migration was relatively low (70 percent) and that migrants from urban areas were negatively selected from the sending population.
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U2 - 10.1257/aer.102.5.1832
DO - 10.1257/aer.102.5.1832
M3 - Article
C2 - 26594052
AN - SCOPUS:84866376701
SN - 0002-8282
VL - 102
SP - 1832
EP - 1856
JO - American Economic Review
JF - American Economic Review
IS - 5
ER -