Immigration Shocks and Marriage Market Sorting

Katherine Eriksson, Addison Lake and Gregory T. Niemesh

AEA Papers and Proceedings, 2022, vol. 112, 214-18

Abstract: Recent work shows a puzzle in the early twentieth century United States: as intergenerational mobility decreased, assortative mating increased. We argue that these two facts are causally related by using a shock to intergenerational mobility caused by falling immigration with the Quota Acts of 1921 and 1924, which essentially closed the borders to European immigration. We find that lower immigration caused lower intergenerational mobility, causing assortative mating to increase. We also look at the choice of nativity of spouse, finding that socioeconomic status gradients increase for every outcome as immigration decreases.

JEL-codes: J12 J15 J62 K37 N32 N42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20221081

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