Internal Migration, Education, and Intergenerational Mobility: Evidence from American History

Zachary Ward

Journal of Human Resources, 2022, vol. 57, issue 6, 1981-2011

Abstract: To what extent does internal migration lead to upward mobility? Using within-brother variation and a new linked data set from the early 20th century, I show that internal migration led to significant gains in economic status. On average, the effect of migration was three to four times the effect of one year of education; for those raised in poorer households, the effect was up to ten times that of education. The evidence suggests that internal migration was a key strategy for intergenerational progress in a context of rapid industrialization, large rural-to-urban flows, and wide interregional income gaps.

JEL-codes: J61 J62 N31 N32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
Note: DOI: 10.3368/jhr.58.2.0619-10265R2
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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