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Kenji or Kenneth? Pearl Harbor and Japanese-American assimilation

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  • Saavedra, Martin

Abstract

Do immigrants assimilate in response to an exogenous shock in anti-immigrant sentiment? I investigate this question by examining the Pearl Harbor bombing as a natural experiment. I generate an index for the Americanization of first names from the 1900–1930 censuses and merge this index with records from the universe of Japanese-American internees during WW2. Regression discontinuity in day-of-birth estimates suggest that Japanese Americans born in the days after Pearl Harbor had more Americanized first names relative to internees born in the days before December 7th, 1941. There is no discontinuity in socioeconomic variables, and a within-family analysis yields similar results.

Suggested Citation

  • Saavedra, Martin, 2021. "Kenji or Kenneth? Pearl Harbor and Japanese-American assimilation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 602-624.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:185:y:2021:i:c:p:602-624
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2021.03.014
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    Cited by:

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    2. Philipp Jaschke & Sulin Sardoschau & Marco Tabellini, 2023. "Scared Straight? Threat and Assimilation of Refugees in Germany," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 384, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    3. Atsushi Yamagishi & Yasuhiro Sato, 2022. "Measuring Discrimination in Spatial Equilibrium: 100 Years of Japan's Invisible Race," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1188, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    4. Hillel Rapoport & Sulin Sardoschau & Arthur Silve, 2020. "Migration and Cultural Change," Working Papers 2020-10, CEPII research center.
    5. Jaschke, Philipp & Sardoschau, Sulin & Tabellini, Marco, 2021. "Scared Straight? Threat and Assimilation of Refugees in Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 14962, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Nancy Qian & Marco Tabellini, 2021. "Racial Discrimination and the Social Contract: Evidence from U.S. Army Enlistment during WWII," NBER Working Papers 29482, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Assimilation; Naming practices; Japanese Americans; Internment camps; Pearl Harbor;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • N12 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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