Immigrants and the making of America

Sandra Sequeira, Nathan Nunn and Nancy Qian

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: We study the effects of European immigration to the U.S. during the Age of Mass Migration (1850–1920) on economic prosperity. Exploiting cross-county variation in immigration that arises from the interaction of fluctuations in aggregate immigrant flows and of the gradual expansion of the railway network, we find that counties with more historical immigration have higher income, less poverty, less unemployment, higher rates of urbanization, and greater educational attainment today. The long-run effects seem to capture the persistence of short-run benefits, including greater industrialization, increased agricultural productivity, and more innovation.

Keywords: Economic development; Historical persistence; Immigration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B52 F22 O10 O40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 38 pages
Date: 2020-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gro, nep-his, nep-hme, nep-int, nep-mig and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (61)

Published in Review of Economic Studies, January, 2020, 87(1), pp. 382-419. ISSN: 0034-6527

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http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/100819/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Immigrants and the Making of America (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:100819

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