Migration Networks and Location Decisions: Evidence from US Mass Migration
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
vol. 13,
no. 3, July 2021
(pp. 134-75)
(Complimentary)
Abstract
This paper studies how birth town migration networks affected long-run location decisions during historical US migration episodes. We develop a new method to estimate the strength of migration networks for each receiving and sending location. Our estimates imply that when one randomly chosen African American moved from a Southern birth town to a destination county, then 1.9 additional Black migrants made the same move on average. For White migrants from the Great Plains, the average is only 0.4. Networks were particularly important in connecting Black migrants with attractive employment opportunities and played a larger role in less costly moves.Citation
Stuart, Bryan A., and Evan J. Taylor. 2021. "Migration Networks and Location Decisions: Evidence from US Mass Migration." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 13 (3): 134-75. DOI: 10.1257/app.20180294Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- J61 Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
- N32 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: U.S.; Canada: 1913-
- N92 Regional and Urban History: U.S.; Canada: 1913-
- R23 Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics: Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population; Neighborhood Characteristics
- Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification
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