The long-run impact of historical shocks on the decision to migrate: Evidence from the Irish Migration

Gaia Narciso, Battista Severgnini and Gayane Vardanyan

Economic Papers from Trinity College Dublin, Economics Department

Abstract: What is the long-run impact of large negative historical events on the individual decision to migrate? We investigate this research question by looking at the effect of the Great Irish Famine (1845-1850) on the long-run individual decision to migrate to the US during the Age of the Mass Migration. We construct a unique dataset based on two early 20th century Irish Censuses and the Ellis Island Administrative Records. This allows us to test whether the Great Irish Famine, one of the most lethal episodes of mass starvation in history, had a long-run impact on individuals migration decisions. Controlling for individual and geographical characteristics, we find that the Irish Famine was a significant long-run driver of individuals migration choices.

Keywords: mass migration; negative shock; long-run impact; Great Famine. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 N33 N93 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 27 pages
Date: 2020-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-evo, nep-gro, nep-his, nep-int and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.tcd.ie/Economics/TEP/0220/TEP0220.pdf

Related works:
Working Paper: The long-run impact of historical shocks on the decision to migrate: Evidence from the Irish Migration (2020)
Working Paper: The long-run impact of historical shocks on the decision to migrate: Evidence from the Irish Migration (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:tcd:tcduee:tep0220

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