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Long-Run Labor Market Effects of Japanese American Internment during World War II on Working-Age Male Internees

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  • Aimee Chin

    (University of Houston)

Abstract

In 1942, all Japanese were evacuated from the West Coast and incarcerated in internment camps. To investigate the long-run economic consequences of this historic episode, I exploit the fact that Hawaiian Japanese were not subject to mass internment. I find that the labor market withdrawal induced by the internment reduced the annual earnings of males by as much as 9%13% 25 years afterward. This is consistent with the predictions of an economic model that equates the labor market withdrawal induced by the internment with a loss of civilian labor market experience or a loss of advantageous job matches.

Suggested Citation

  • Aimee Chin, 2005. "Long-Run Labor Market Effects of Japanese American Internment during World War II on Working-Age Male Internees," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 23(3), pages 491-526, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlabec:v:23:y:2005:i:3:p:491-526
    DOI: 10.1086/430285
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Angrist, Joshua D, 1990. "Lifetime Earnings and the Vietnam Era Draft Lottery: Evidence from Social Security Administrative Records," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(3), pages 313-336, June.
    2. Angrist, Joshua & Krueger, Alan B, 1994. "Why Do World War II Veterans Earn More Than Nonveterans?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 12(1), pages 74-97, January.
    3. Angrist, Joshua D, 1990. "Lifetime Earnings and the Vietnam Era Draft Lottery: Evidence from Social Security Administrative Records: Errata," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(5), pages 1284-1286, December.
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    2. Susan Athey & Guido W. Imbens, 2006. "Identification and Inference in Nonlinear Difference-in-Differences Models," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 74(2), pages 431-497, March.
    3. Kilian Huber & Volker Lindenthal & Fabian Waldinger, 2021. "Discrimination, Managers, and Firm Performance: Evidence from “Aryanizations” in Nazi Germany," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(9), pages 2455-2503.
    4. Shoag, Daniel & Carollo, Nicholas, 2016. "The Causal Effect of Place: Evidence from Japanese-American Internment," Working Paper Series 16-022, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    5. Isao Takei & Arthur Sakamoto, 2015. "A Basic Socioeconomic Profile of Japanese Americans from the 1910, 1920, And 1930 U.S. Census Data," International Journal of Asian Social Science, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 5(10), pages 570-584, October.
    6. Gregg, Matthew T. & Wishart, David M., 2012. "The price of Cherokee removal," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 423-442.
    7. Waldinger, Fabian & Huber, Kilian & Lindenthal, Volker, 2018. "Discrimination, Managers, and Firm Performance: Evidence from “Aryanizations†in Nazi Germany," CEPR Discussion Papers 13089, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Saavedra, Martin & Twinam, Tate, 2020. "A machine learning approach to improving occupational income scores," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    9. Arellano-Bover, Jaime, 2022. "Displacement, Diversity, and Mobility: Career Impacts of Japanese American Internment," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 82(1), pages 126-174, March.
    10. Bedaso, Fenet, 2021. "The Labor Market Integration of Refugees and other Migrants in Germany," GLO Discussion Paper Series 884, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    11. Saavedra, Martin, 2021. "Kenji or Kenneth? Pearl Harbor and Japanese-American assimilation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 602-624.
    12. Hua, Kuo-Ting, 2023. "From trauma to resilience: The effect of stress on the labor market outcome of refugees," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 126-134.
    13. Fransen, Sonja & Ruiz, Isabel & Vargas-Silva, Carlos, 2017. "Return Migration and Economic Outcomes in the Conflict Context," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 196-210.
    14. Chan, Jeff, 2023. "Forced displacement and migrants' location choices: Evidence from the Japanese-Canadian experience during World War II," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 206-240.
    15. Liliana Varela & Juliana Salomao, 2016. "Exchange Rate Exposure and Firm Dynamics," Working Papers 2016-278-05, Department of Economics, University of Houston.
    16. Isabel Ruiz & Carlos Vargas-Silva, 2018. "Differences in labour market outcomes between natives, refugees and other migrants in the UK," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(4), pages 855-885.
    17. Saavedra, Martin, 2015. "School quality and educational attainment: Japanese American internment as a natural experiment," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 59-78.

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