State and labor mobility:: The impact of Bismarck's social legislation on German emigration before World War I

• 成果类型: Article; Proceedings Paper
• 署名作者: University Externado Colombia
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0507
• DOI: 10.1017/S0022050708000077
• 发表日期: 2008
• 页码: 211-243
• 关键词: globalization; EVOLUTION

摘要

The rapid decline of German emigration before World War I constitutes a puzzle that traditional explanations have difficulty in solving. The article shows that the social legislation implemented by Bismarck during the 1880s-the most developed at the time-played a key role in this process. Indeed, candidates for migration considered not only the gap between direct wages (labor earnings) in the United States and Germany, but also the differential in indirect wages, that is, social benefits. In that way, Bismarck's insurance system partly offset low wage rates in Germany and furthered the fall of the emigration rate.