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

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Abramitzky, Ran; Boustan, Leah Platt; Eriksson, Katherine
• 署名单位: Stanford University; National Bureau of Economic Research; University of California System; University of California Los Angeles
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2012.08.004
• 发表日期: 2013
• 页码: 2-14
• 关键词: MIGRATION; selection; WEALTH; Childhood environment; 19th century

摘要

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. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.