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The Not-So-Hot Melting Pot: The Persistence of Outcomes for Descendants of the Age of Mass Migration

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  • Zachary Ward

Abstract

How persistent are economic gaps across ethnicities? The convergence of ethnic gaps through the third generation of immigrants is difficult to measure because few datasets include grandparental birthplace. I overcome this limitation with a new three-generational dataset that links immigrant grandfathers in 1880 to their grandsons in 1940. I find that the persistence of ethnic gaps in occupational income is 2.5 times stronger than predicted by a standard grandfather-grandson elasticity. While part of the discrepancy is due to measurement error attenuating the grandfather-grandson elasticity, mechanisms related to geography also partially explain the stronger persistence of ethnic occupational differentials.

Suggested Citation

  • Zachary Ward, 2020. "The Not-So-Hot Melting Pot: The Persistence of Outcomes for Descendants of the Age of Mass Migration," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 73-102, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:12:y:2020:i:4:p:73-102
    DOI: 10.1257/app.20170382
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    Cited by:

    1. Zachary Ward, 2023. "Intergenerational Mobility in American History: Accounting for Race and Measurement Error," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 113(12), pages 3213-3248, December.
    2. Francisca M. Antman & Brian Duncan & Stephen J. Trejo, 2023. "Hispanic Americans in the Labor Market: Patterns over Time and across Generations," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 37(1), pages 169-198, Winter.
    3. Ran Abramitzky & Philipp Ager & Leah Boustan & Elior Cohen & Casper Hansen, 2021. "The Effect of Immigration on Local Labor Markets: Lessons from the 1920s Border Closure," Research Working Paper RWP 21-09, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
    4. Timothy J Hatton & Zachary Ward, 2018. "International Migration in the Atlantic Economy 1850 - 1940," CEH Discussion Papers 02, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    5. Gielen, Anne C. & Webbink, Dinand, 2023. "Unexpected Colonial Returns: Self-Selection and Economic Integration of Migrants over Multiple Generations," IZA Discussion Papers 16065, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects

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