Working Paper: NBER ID: w27506
Authors: Yannay Spitzer; Gaspare Tortorici; Ariell Zimran
Abstract: The Messina-Reggio Calabria Earthquake (1908) was one of the most devastating natural disasters in modern European history. It occurred when overseas mass emigration from southern Italy was at its peak and international borders were open, making emigration a readily available option for relief. We study the effects of this disaster on international migration. We find that there was no large positive impact on emigration on average. There were, however, heterogeneous responses, with a more positive effect where agricultural day laborers comprised a larger share of the labor force, suggesting that attachment to the land limited an emigration response.
Keywords: International Migration; Natural Disasters; Earthquake; Messina; Reggio Calabria
JEL Codes: F22; J61; N33; N53; O13; O15; Q54
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Messina-Reggio Calabria earthquake (H84) | emigration from severely damaged communes (F22) |
| attachment to land among agricultural workers (Q15) | limiting migration responses (F22) |
| greater share of agricultural day laborers (J43) | more pronounced emigration increase (J11) |
| liquidity constraints and demand for reconstruction labor (J23) | migration responses (J61) |