Working Paper: NBER ID: w18298
Authors: Ran Abramitzky; Leah Platt Boustan; Katherine Eriksson
Abstract: Using novel data on 50,000 Norwegian men, we study the effect of wealth on the probability of internal or international migration during the Age of Mass Migration (1850-1913), a time when the US maintained an open border to European immigrants. We do so by exploiting variation in parental wealth and in expected inheritance by birth order, gender composition of siblings, and region. We find that wealth discouraged migration in this era, suggesting that the poor could be more likely to move if migration restrictions were lifted today. We discuss the implications of these historical findings to developing countries.
Keywords: migration; wealth; inheritance; historical data
JEL Codes: J61
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Parental wealth (G51) | Migration decisions (F22) |
| Wealth (D31) | Likelihood of migrating (J61) |
| Taxable assets (H24) | Migration likelihood (J61) |
| Expected inheritance (by birth order) (C92) | Migration behavior (F22) |
| Number of brothers (C29) | Migration likelihood (in land-owning households) (R23) |