The Effect of Internal Migration on Local Labor Markets: American Cities During the Great Depression

Leah Boustan, Price Fishback and Shawn Kantor

No 13276, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: During the Great Depression, as today, migrants were accused of taking jobs and crowding relief rolls. At the time, protest concerned internal migrants rather than the foreign born. We investigate the effect of net migration on local labor markets, instrumenting for migrant flows to a destination with extreme weather events and variation in New Deal programs in typical sending areas. Migration had little effect on the hourly earnings of existing residents. Instead, migration prompted some residents to move away and others to lose weeks of work and/or access to relief jobs. Given the period's high unemployment, these lost work opportunities were costly to existing residents.

JEL-codes: J61 N32 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo, nep-his, nep-lab, nep-mig and nep-ure
Note: DAE LS
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Published as Leah Platt Boustan & Price V. Fishback & Shawn Kantor, 2010. "The Effect of Internal Migration on Local Labor Markets:American Cities during the Great Depression," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 28(4), pages 719-746, October.

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