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Across the sea to Ireland: Return Atlantic migration before the First World War

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  • Fernihough, Alan
  • Ó Gráda, Cormac

Abstract

Are return migrants 'losers' who fail to adapt to the challenges of the host economy, and thereby exacerbate the brain drain linked to emigration? Or are they 'winners' whose return enhances the human and physical capital of the home country? These questions are the subject of a burgeoning literature. This paper analyze a new database culled from the 1911 Irish population census to address these issues for returnees to Ireland from North America more than a century ago. The evidence suggests that those who returned had the edge over the population as a whole in terms of human capital, if not also over those who remained abroad.

Suggested Citation

  • Fernihough, Alan & Ó Gráda, Cormac, 2019. "Across the sea to Ireland: Return Atlantic migration before the First World War," QUCEH Working Paper Series 2019-08, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:qucehw:201908
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Matteo Gomellini & Cormac Ó Gráda, 2019. "Brain Drain and Brain Gain in Italy and Ireland in the Age of Mass Migration," Palgrave Studies in Economic History, in: David Mitch & Gabriele Cappelli (ed.), Globalization and the Rise of Mass Education, chapter 0, pages 163-191, Palgrave Macmillan.
    4. Barrett, Alan & Goggin, Jean, 2010. "Returning to the Question of a Wage Premium for Returning Migrants," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 213, pages 43-51, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Cummins, Neil J. & Ó Gráda, Cormac, 2025. "The Irish in England," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 85(1), pages 180-214, March.
    2. Cummins, Neil & Ó Gráda, Cormac, 2022. "The Irish in England," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115497, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Colvin, Christopher L. & McLaughlin, Eoin, 2021. "Death, demography and the denominator: Age-adjusted Influenza-18 mortality in Ireland," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    4. Colvin, Christopher L. & McLaughlin, Eoin, 2020. "Death, demography and the denominator: New Influenza-18 mortality estimates for Ireland," SRERC Working Paper Series SRERCWP2020-2, University College Cork (UCC), Spatial and Regional Economic Research Centre (SRERC).
    5. repec:ehl:wpaper:115497 is not listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    migration; brain gain; economic history; Ireland;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N - Economic History
    • N33 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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