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The American Frontier: Technology versus Immigration

Abstract

What drove western population growth in the U.S. during the 19th century? The facts are: (i) Natural increase was higher in the West than in the East; and (ii) in the early stages of the settlement process, net migration could account for up to 80% of population growth in some regions. A general equilibrium model is proposed, with three ingredients: endogenous fertility, investment in land, and migration. The relative abundance of land in the West promotes higher fertility. The model is simulated. It accounts well for the time-series decomposition of population growth between migration and fertility.

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Paper provided by Economie d'Avant Garde in its series Economie d'Avant Garde Research Reports with number 7.

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Length: 20 pages
Date of creation: Apr 2004
Handle: RePEc:eag:rereps:7
Contact details of provider: Web page: http://www.jeremygreenwood.net/EAG.htm

Keywords: Population growth; migration; fertility; westward expansion;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • E1 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models
  • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
  • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development

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Cited by:

  1. Alex Mourmouras & Peter Rangazas, 2009. "Reconciling Kuznets and Habbakuk in a unified growth theory," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 149-181, June.

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