Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 May:102:2-14.
doi: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2012.08.004. Epub 2012 Aug 20.

Have the poor always been less likely to migrate? Evidence from inheritance practices during the age of mass migration

Ran Abramitzky  1 , Leah Platt Boustan  2 , Katherine Eriksson  3
Affiliations

Have the poor always been less likely to migrate? Evidence from inheritance practices during the age of mass migration

Ran Abramitzky et al. J Dev Econ. 2013 May.

Abstract

Using novel data on 50,000 Norwegian men, we study the effect of wealth on the probability of internal or international migration during the Age of Mass Migration (1850-1913), a time when the US maintained an open border to European immigrants. We do so by exploiting variation in parental wealth and in expected inheritance by birth order, gender composition of siblings, and region. We find that wealth discouraged migration in this era, suggesting that the poor could be more likely to move if migration restrictions were lifted today. We discuss the implications of these historical findings to developing countries.

Keywords: 19th century; Childhood environment; Migration; Selection; Wealth.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Coefficients on number of siblings from probit regression with dependent variable equal to ‘any migration’. Notes: Graphs report coefficients from the regressions in panel A of Table 3. The ‘no assets’ lines report coefficients on a vector of dummy variables for number of siblings. The ‘assets’ lines report the sum of coefficients on the main effect of number of siblings and interactions between number of siblings and household assets. The omitted category is households with only one child. Dots are enlarged if either the main effect is significantly different from zero (‘no assets’) or the interaction is significantly different from the main effect (‘assets’).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Coefficients on number of brothers from probit regression with dependent variable equal to ‘any migration’. Notes: Graphs report coefficients from the regressions in panel A of Table 3. The ‘no assets’ lines report coefficients on a vector of dummy variables for number of brothers. The ‘assets’ lines report the sum of coefficients on the main effect of number of brothers and interactions between number of brothers and household assets. The omitted category is households with only one brother. Dots are enlarged if either the main effect is significantly different from zero (‘no assets’) or the interaction is significantly different from the main effect (‘assets’).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Coefficients on number of siblings from probit regression with dependent variable equal to ‘assets in adulthood’. Notes: Graphs report coefficients from the regressions in panel B of Table 3. For other details, see the notes to Fig. 1.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Coefficients on number of brothers from probit regression with dependent variable equal to ‘assets in adulthood’. Notes: Graphs report coefficients from the regressions in panel B of Table 3. For other details, see the notes to Fig. 2.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. A’Hearn Brian, Baten Jorg, Crayen Dorothee. Quantifying quantitative literacy: age heaping and the history of human capital. Journal of Economic History. 2009;60(3):783–808.
    1. Aarebrot Frank, Kuhnle Stein. Norwegian Ecological Data, 1868–1903 [Computer File]. ICPSR00041-v1. Inter-university Consortium for Political, Social Research [distributor], Ann Arbor, MI. 2009
    1. Abramitzky Ran, Boustan Leah, Eriksson Katherine. Europe’s tired, poor, huddled masses: self-selection and economic outcomes in the age of mass migration. American Economic Review. 2012;102(5):1832–1856. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Atack Jeremy, Bateman Fred. ‘Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match’: a general personal computer-based matching program for historical research. Historical Methods. 1992;25(2):53–65.
    1. Bandiera Oriana, Rasul Imran, Viarengo Martina. The Making of Modern America: Migratory Flows in the Age of Mass Migration. Manuscript. 2010

LinkOut - more resources