The Age of Mass Migration: Economic and Institutional Determinants

Graziella Bertocchi () and Chiara Strozzi ()

No 2499, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We study the determinants of 19th century mass migration with special attention to the role of institutional factors beside standard economic fundamentals. We find that economic forces associated with income and demographic differentials had a major role in the determination of this historical event, but that the quality of institutions also mattered. We evaluate separately the impact of political institutions linked to democracy and suffrage and of those institutions more specifically targeted at attracting migrants, i.e., citizenship acquisition, land distribution, and public education policies. We find that both sets of institutions contributed to this event, even after controlling for their potential endogeneity through a set of instruments exploiting colonial history and the quality of institutions inherited from the past.

Keywords: colonial history; democracy; 19th century international migration; institutions; migration policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 F54 K40 N33 O15 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 33 pages
Date: 2006-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-his, nep-law and nep-pol
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

Published - revised version published as "International Migration and the Role of Institutions" in: Public Choice, 2008, 137(1), 81-102

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Working Paper: The Age of Mass Migration: Economic and Institutional Determinants (2007)
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