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Leaving the Enclave: Historical Evidence on Immigrant Mobility from the Industrial Removal Office

Author

Listed:
  • Ran Abramitzky

    (Stanford University)

  • Leah Platt Boustan

    (Princeton University)

  • Dylan Connor

    (Arizona State University)

Abstract

We study a program that funded 39,000 Jewish households in New York City to leave enclave neighborhoods circa 1910. Compared to their neighbors with the same occupation and income score at baseline, program participants earned 4 percent more ten years after removal, and these gains persisted to the next generation. Men who left enclaves also married spouses with less Jewish names, but they did not choose less Jewish names for their children. Gains were largest for men who spent more years outside of an enclave. Our results suggest that leaving ethnic neighborhoods could facilitate economic advancement and assimilation into the broader society, but might make it more difficult to retain cultural identity.

Suggested Citation

  • Ran Abramitzky & Leah Platt Boustan & Dylan Connor, 2020. "Leaving the Enclave: Historical Evidence on Immigrant Mobility from the Industrial Removal Office," Working Papers 2020-35, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    • Handle: RePEc:pri:econom:2020-35
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Sinding Bentzen, Jeanet & Boberg-Fazli´c, Nina & Sharp, Paul & Volmar Skovsgaard, Christian & Vedel, Christian, 2024. "Assimilate for God: The Impact of Religious Divisions on Danish American Communities," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 703, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    3. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Gobillon, Laurent & Zylberberg, Yanos, 2022. "Urban economics in a historical perspective: Recovering data with machine learning," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    4. 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.
    5. Enrico Berkes & Davide M. Coluccia & Gaia Dossi & Mara P. Squicciarini, 2023. "Dealing with adversity: Religiosity or science? Evidence from the great influenza pandemic," POID Working Papers 068, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    6. Enrico Berkes & Davide M. Coluccia & Gaia Dossi & Mara P. Squicciarini, 2023. "Dealing with adversity: religiosity or science? Evidence from the great influenza pandemic," CEP Discussion Papers dp1927, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    7. Zimran, Ariell, 2022. "US immigrants’ secondary migration and geographic assimilation during the Age of Mass Migration," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    8. Michelangelo Landgrave, 2023. "Why Do Migrant Parents Give Their Children Distinctively Ethnic Names? Evidence from a Pre-registered Analysis," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 19-33, March.
    9. Eriksson, Katherine & Ward, Zachary, 2022. "Immigrants and cities during the age of mass migration," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    10. Berkes, Enrico & Coluccia, Davide M. & Dossi, Gaia Greta & Squicciarini, Mara P., 2023. "Dealing with adversity: religiosity or science? Evidence from the great influenza pandemic," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121318, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    New York City; urban; Jewish; ethnic neighborhoods; migration;
    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-
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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