American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Intergenerational Mobility of Immigrants in the United States over Two Centuries
American Economic Review
vol. 111,
no. 2, February 2021
(pp. 580–608)
Abstract
Using millions of father-son pairs spanning more than 100 years of US history, we find that children of immigrants from nearly every sending country have higher rates of upward mobility than children of the US-born. Immigrants' advantage is similar historically and today despite dramatic shifts in sending countries and US immigration policy. Immigrants achieve this advantage in part by choosing to settle in locations that offer better prospects for their children.Citation
Abramitzky, Ran, Leah Boustan, Elisa Jacome, and Santiago Perez. 2021. "Intergenerational Mobility of Immigrants in the United States over Two Centuries." American Economic Review 111 (2): 580–608. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20191586Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- J18 Demographic Economics: Public Policy
- J62 Job, Occupational, and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
- K37 Immigration Law
- N31 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
- N32 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: U.S.; Canada: 1913-