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American Economic Review Vol. 102 No. 5 2012

Europe's Tired, Poor, Huddled Masses: Self-Selection and Economic Outcomes in the Age of Mass Migration

Ran Abramitzky1; Leah Platt Boustan2; Kimmo Eriksson3

1 Department of Economics, Stanford University, 579 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305, and NBER. · 2 Department of Economics, UCLA, 8283 Bunche Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90095, and NBER. · 3 Department of Economics, UCLA, 8283 Bunche Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90095.

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Abstract

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. "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"--Emma Lazarus (1883).

DOI
10.1257/aer.102.5.1832
Volume
102
Issue
5
Pages
1832-1856
Language
en
Sources
openalex bibtex:phds-export.bib crossref

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