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The Great Migration and Educational Opportunity

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Abstract

This paper studies the impact of the First Great Migration on children. We use the complete count 1940 Census to estimate selection-corrected place effects on education for children of Black migrants. On average, Black children gained 0.8 years of schooling (12 percent) by moving from the South to the North. Many counties that had the strongest positive impacts on children during the 1940s offer relatively poor opportunities for Black youth today. Opportunities for Black children were greater in places with more schooling investment, stronger labor market opportunities for Black adults, more social capital, and less crime.

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  • Cavit Baran & Eric Chyn & Bryan Stuart, 2022. "The Great Migration and Educational Opportunity," Working Papers 22-04, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedpwp:93696
    DOI: 10.21799/frbp.wp.2022.04
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    Cited by:

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    2. Eric Chyn & Lawrence F. Katz, 2021. "Neighborhoods Matter: Assessing the Evidence for Place Effects," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 35(4), pages 197-222, Fall.
    3. Shi, Ying & Hartley, Daniel & Mazumder, Bhash & Rajan, Aastha, 2022. "The effects of the Great Migration on urban renewal," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    4. Calderon, Alvaro & Fouka, Vasiliki & Tabellini, Marco, 2021. "Racial Diversity, Electoral Preferences, and the Supply of Policy: The Great Migration and Civil Rights," IZA Discussion Papers 14312, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Great Migration; human capital; education; place effect.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N32 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare

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