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Migrants and the Making of America: The Shortand Long-Run Effects of Immigration During the Age of Mass Migration

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  • Sandra Sequeira
  • Nathan Nunn
  • Nancy Qian

Abstract

We study the effects of European immigration to the United States during the Age of Mass Migration (1850-1920) on economic prosperity today. We exploit variation in the extent of immigration across counties arising from the interaction of fluctuations in aggregate immigrant flows and the gradual expansion of the railway network across the United States. We find that locations with more historical immigration today have higher incomes, less poverty, less unemployment, higher rates of urbanization, and greater educational attainment. The long-run effects appear to arise from the persistence of sizeable short-run benefits, including greater industrialization, increased agricultural productivity, and more innovation.
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  • Sandra Sequeira & Nathan Nunn & Nancy Qian, 2017. "Migrants and the Making of America: The Shortand Long-Run Effects of Immigration During the Age of Mass Migration," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 15(03), pages 30-34, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ifodic:v:15:y:2017:i:03:p:30-34
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    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. La ciudad sí es para mí. Una mirada al pasado del emigrante interno en España
      by Francisco Beltrán Tapia in Nada Es Gratis on 2017-03-15 11:24:32

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    Cited by:

    1. Dario Diodato & Andrea Morrison & Sergio Petralia, 2022. "Migration and invention in the Age of Mass Migration [Immigration in American economic history]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 22(2), pages 477-498.
    2. Frédéric Docquier & Riccardo Turati & Jérôme Valette & Chrysovalantis Vasilakis, 2020. "Birthplace diversity and economic growth: evidence from the US states in the Post-World War II period [Cultural diversity and economic growth: evidence from the US during the age of mass migration]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(2), pages 321-354.
    3. Bracco, Emanuele & De Paola, Maria & Green, Colin P. & Scoppa, Vincenzo, 2018. "The effect of far right parties on the location choice of immigrants: Evidence from Lega Nord Mayors," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 12-26.
    4. Francesco Cinnirella & Jochen Streb, 2017. "Religious Tolerance as Engine of Innovation," CESifo Working Paper Series 6797, CESifo.
    5. Murard, Elie & Sakalli, Seyhun Orcan, 2018. "Mass Refugee Inflow and Long-Run Prosperity: Lessons from the Greek Population Resettlement," IZA Discussion Papers 11613, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
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    7. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/24ib66dtho86rp6keb6eqd20hr is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Frédéric Docquier & Riccardo Turati & Jérôme Valette & Chrysovalantis Vasilakis, 2016. "Multiculturalism and Growth: Skill-Specific Evidence from the Post-World War II Period," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2016028, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    9. Ager, Philipp & Feigenbaum, James J & Hansen, Casper Worm & Tan, Huiren, 2020. "How the Other Half Died: Immigration and Mortality in US Cities," CEPR Discussion Papers 14949, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Ager, Philipp & Hansen, Casper Worm, 2017. "Closing Heaven's Door: Evidence from the 1920s U.S. Immigration Quota Acts," Discussion Papers on Economics 11/2017, University of Southern Denmark, Department of Economics.
    11. Sascha O. Becker & Irena Grosfeld & Pauline Grosjean & Nico Voigtländer & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2020. "Forced Migration and Human Capital: Evidence from Post-WWII Population Transfers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(5), pages 1430-1463, May.
    12. Philipp Ager & Casper Worm Hansen, 2016. "National Immigration Quotas and Local Economic Growth," Discussion Papers 16-11, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    13. Mounir Karadja & Erik Prawitz, 2019. "Exit, Voice, and Political Change: Evidence from Swedish Mass Migration to the United States," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 127(4), pages 1864-1925.
    14. Xie, Bin, 2017. "The Effects of Immigration Quotas on Wages, the Great Black Migration, and Industrial Development," IZA Discussion Papers 11214, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Banerjee, Abhijit & Duflo, Esther & Qian, Nancy, 2020. "On the road: Access to transportation infrastructure and economic growth in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    16. Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés & Von Berlepsch, Viola, 2017. "Does population diversity matter for economic development in the very long-term? Historic migration, diversity and county wealt," CEPR Discussion Papers 12347, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    17. Remi Jedwab & Noel D. Johnson & Mark Koyama, 2019. "Negative shocks and mass persecutions: evidence from the Black Death," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 345-395, December.
    18. Alexandre Padilla & Nicolás Cachanosky, 2018. "The Grecian horse: does immigration lead to the deterioration of American institutions?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 174(3), pages 351-405, March.
    19. Melissa Dell & Benjamin A Olken, 2020. "The Development Effects of the Extractive Colonial Economy: The Dutch Cultivation System in Java," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 87(1), pages 164-203.
    20. Konrad B Buchardi & Thomas Chaney & Tarek A Hassan, 2018. "Migrants, Ancestors and Foreign Investments," Sciences Po publications info:hdl:2441/4j5snkuat19, Sciences Po.
    21. Bruno Gabriel Witzel de Souza, 2018. "Immigration and the path dependence of education: the case of German†speakers in São Paulo, Brazil (1840–1920)," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 71(2), pages 506-539, May.
    22. Peter Akosah-Twumasi & Faith Alele & Amy M. Smith & Theophilus I. Emeto & Daniel Lindsay & Komla Tsey & Bunmi S. Malau-Aduli, 2020. "Prioritising Family Needs: A Grounded Theory of Acculturation for Sub-Saharan African Migrant Families in Australia," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-16, February.
    23. Craig, J. Dean & Faria, Anna B., 2021. "Immigrant nationality and human capital formation in Brazil," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    24. 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.
    25. Grace Carolina Guevara-Rosero & Andrea Gabriela Bonilla-Bolaños, 2021. "Non-pecuniary Effects of Migration Inflows to Ecuador: Is Residents’ Life Satisfaction Affected?," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 1243-1270, December.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology

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