IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp16281.html

Emigrant Voyages from the UK to North America and Australasia, 1853-1913

Author

Listed:
  • Hatton, Timothy J.

    (University of Essex)

Abstract

Studies of the determinants of emigration from Europe from 1850 to 1913 include the gains to migrants but often neglect the costs. One component of those costs is earnings forgone on the voyage. In this paper I present new data on the voyage times for emigrants from the UK traveling to the United States and to Australia. Between 1853-7 and 1909-13 the voyage time from Liverpool to New York fell from 38 days to just 8 days (or 79%). Over the same years, the emigrant voyage to Sydney fell by more in absolute terms, from 105 days to 46, but by less in relative terms (56%). Differences in profiles of travel times are explained with a focus on the relative efficiency of sail and steam and (for Australia) the use of the Suez Canal. Data series for fare prices and foregone wage costs are combined to create new series on the 'total' cost of emigrant voyages. Econometric analysis of UK emigration to the US, Canada and Australia supports the view that time costs mattered.

Suggested Citation

  • Hatton, Timothy J., 2023. "Emigrant Voyages from the UK to North America and Australasia, 1853-1913," IZA Discussion Papers 16281, IZA Network @ LISER.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16281
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp16281.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:cup:jechis:v:18:y:1958:i:04:p:556-573_10 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Pope, David & Withers, Glenn, 1993. "Do Migrants Rob Jobs? Lessons of Australian History, 1861–1991," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 53(4), pages 719-742, December.
    3. David S. Jacks & Martin Stuermer, 2021. "Dry bulk shipping and the evolution of maritime transport costs, 1850–2020," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(2), pages 204-227, July.
    4. Williamson Jeffrey G., 1995. "The Evolution of Global Labor Markets since 1830: Background Evidence and Hypotheses," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 141-196, April.
    5. McDonald, John & Shlomowitz, Ralph, 1991. "Passenger fares on sailing vessels to Australia in the nineteenth century," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 192-208, April.
    6. Cohn, Raymond L., 2005. "The Transition from Sail to Steam in Immigration to the United States," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 65(2), pages 469-495, June.
    7. Larry A. Sjaastad, 1970. "The Costs and Returns of Human Migration," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Harry W. Richardson (ed.), Regional Economics, chapter 9, pages 115-133, Palgrave Macmillan.
    8. Harley, C. Knick, 1988. "Ocean Freight Rates and Productivity, 1740–1913: The Primacy of Mechanical Invention Reaffirmed," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 48(4), pages 851-876, December.
    9. Timothy J. Hatton, 2021. "Emigration from the United Kingdom to the United States, Canada and Australia/New Zealand, 1870–1913: Quantity and quality," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(2), pages 136-158, July.
    10. Miotto, Martina & Pascali, Luigi, 2025. "Solving the longitude puzzle: A story of clocks, ships and cities," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    11. John Killick, 2014. "Transatlantic steerage fares, British and Irish migration, and return migration, 1815–60," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 67(1), pages 170-191, February.
    12. Peter M. Solar & Luc Hens, 2016. "Ship speeds during the Industrial Revolution: East India Company ships, 1770–1828," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 20(1), pages 66-78.
    13. George Deltas & Richard Sicotte & Peter Tomczak, 2008. "Passenger Shipping Cartels and Their Effect on Trans-Atlantic Migration," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(1), pages 119-133, February.
    14. Kelly, Morgan & Ó Gráda, Cormac & Solar, Peter M., 2021. "Safety at Sea during the Industrial Revolution," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 81(1), pages 239-275, March.
    15. David S Jacks & Krishna Pendakur, 2010. "Global Trade and the Maritime Transport Revolution," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(4), pages 745-755, November.
    16. Luigi Pascali, 2017. "The Wind of Change: Maritime Technology, Trade, and Economic Development," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(9), pages 2821-2854, September.
    17. Timothy J Hatton, 2024. "Time on the crossing: emigrant voyages across the Atlantic, 1853–1913," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 28(1), pages 120-133.
    18. Jacks, David S. & Meissner, Christopher M. & Novy, Dennis, 2010. "Trade costs in the first wave of globalization," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 127-141, April.
    19. Bandiera, Oriana & Rasul, Imran & Viarengo, Martina, 2013. "The Making of Modern America: Migratory Flows in the Age of Mass Migration," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 23-47.
    20. Hatton, Timothy J. & Williamson, Jeffrey G., 1998. "The Age of Mass Migration: Causes and Economic Impact," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195116519.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Timothy J. Hatton, 2025. "The Economic Demography of Intercontinental Migration," CEH Discussion Papers 04, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    2. Timothy J. Hatton, 2025. "Migration to Australia, the transition from sail to steam, and the SS Great Britain," Asia-Pacific Economic History Review, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 65(2), pages 173-191, July.
    3. Hatton, Timothy J., 2024. "The political economy of assisted immigration: Australia 1860–1913," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    4. Uysal, Sezgin & Celebi, Ismail, 2024. "Emigration Dynamics and Transatlantic Voyage from Austria-Hungary to the U.S. between 1840 to 1910," SocArXiv 7vfxn, Center for Open Science.
    5. repec:osf:socarx:7vfxn_v1 is not listed on IDEAS

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Timothy J. Hatton, 2010. "The Cliometrics Of International Migration: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 941-969, December.
    2. Timothy J. Hatton, 2019. "Emigration from the UK 1870-1913: Quantity and Quality," CEH Discussion Papers 07, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    3. George Deltas & Richard Sicotte, 2017. "Cartel Organization, Price Discrimination, and Selection of Transatlantic Migrants: 1899–1911," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 83(3), pages 668-704, January.
    4. Timothy J. Hatton, 2021. "Emigration from the United Kingdom to the United States, Canada and Australia/New Zealand, 1870–1913: Quantity and quality," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(2), pages 136-158, July.
    5. O’Rourke, Kevin Hjortshøj, 2019. "Economic History and Contemporary Challenges to Globalization," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 79(2), pages 356-382, June.
    6. Kevin Hjortshøj O’Rourke, 2018. "Economic history and contemporary challenges to globalization," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _167, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    7. Francesco Giffoni & Matteo Gomellini, 2015. "Brain Gain in the Age of Mass Migration," Quaderni di storia economica (Economic History Working Papers) 34, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    8. Sean Bottomley & Brian D. Varian, 2024. "Information costs and trade: Evidence from international electric telegraphy during the "golden age" of globalisation," CEH Discussion Papers 09, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    9. Timothy J. Hatton, 2024. "Sailing Ship Technology, Navigation and the Duration of Voyages to Australia, 1848-85," CEH Discussion Papers 07, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    10. Guillaume Blanc and Romain Wacziarg, 2026. "Malthusian Migrations," Discussion Papers dp26-05, Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University.
    11. Bandiera, Oriana & Rasul, Imran & Viarengo, Martina, 2013. "The Making of Modern America: Migratory Flows in the Age of Mass Migration," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 23-47.
    12. Timothy J. Hatton & Zachary Ward, 2024. "International Migration in the Atlantic Economy 1850–1940," Springer Books, in: Claude Diebolt & Michael Haupert (ed.), Handbook of Cliometrics, edition 3, pages 507-535, Springer.
    13. Greenwood, Michael J. & Ward, Zachary, 2015. "Immigration quotas, World War I, and emigrant flows from the United States in the early 20th century," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 76-96.
    14. Christian Lumpe & Claudia Lumpe, 2017. "German emigration via Bremen in the Weimar Republic (1920–1932)," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201753, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    15. Timothy J. Hatton, 2025. "Migration to Australia, the transition from sail to steam, and the SS Great Britain," Asia-Pacific Economic History Review, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 65(2), pages 173-191, July.
    16. Brandon Dupont & Drew Keeling & Thomas Weiss, 2017. "First Cabin Fares from New York to the British Isles, 1826–1914," Research in Economic History, in: Research in Economic History, volume 33, pages 19-63, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    17. Jaworski, Taylor & Keay, Ian, 2022. "Globalization and the spread of industrialization in Canada, 1871–1891," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    18. 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.
    19. repec:bdi:workqs:qse_8 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Miotto, Martina & Pascali, Luigi, 2025. "Solving the longitude puzzle: A story of clocks, ships and cities," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    21. Alexander, Rohan & Ward, Zachary, 2018. "Age at Arrival and Assimilation During the Age of Mass Migration," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 78(3), pages 904-937, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • N73 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Europe: Pre-1913

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16281. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Mark Fallak (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaalu.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.