We construct datasets of linked census records to study internal migrants' selection 1930). We study both whites and blacks and intra-and inter-regional migration. While there is some evidence of positive selection, the degree of selection was small and participation in migration was widespread. Differences in background, including initial location, cannot account for racial differences in destination choices. Blacks and whites were similarly responsive to pre-existing migrant stocks from their home state, but black men were more deterred by distance, attracted to manufacturing, and responsive to labor demand.A t the turn of the twentieth century, real income per worker in the South was less than one-half of that in the rest of the United States a labor demand boom in northern industrial centers and the interruption Social scientists have studied its causes and consequences for almost 100 provide additional perspective. First, we examine the migration decisions was important in its own right and provides a natural comparison for the migration patterns of blacks. Second, our analysis includes both intraand inter-regional migrants, whereas much of the previous literature has within regions, including the South, provide valuable information and a more complete picture of internal migration patterns during the early decades data that provide deeper insight than previously available into the careers that inform most quantitative studies of U.S. internal migration in the observe the same person before and after migration. 1 ante information hinders the study of how individual and local characterdestination. Furthermore, using ex post measures of migrants' outcomes or human capital that are available in cross-sectional data sources may providing a clearer view of the same men before and after the start of 1 migrants are observed before and after moving.
Selection and Sorting of Southern Migrants949 southern-resident males, ages 0 to 40, in 1910. We then locate the same men in the 1930 census manuscripts and transcribe data from the handless than age 18) still lived with their parents and siblings, and the older -mation on personal, household, and local background.For African Americans, the linked census records used here are the focused on measuring black men's income gains from inter-regional white and black migrants, which required the creation of a new set of -tion, this article studies both intra-regional and inter-regional migration of scholars' attention. Finally, as described later, much of this article is dedicated to studying the migrants' choices of destination and comparing black and white migration patterns across potential destinations, a topic in the history of Americans' internal migration. First, after documenting the outstanding features of southern black and white migration patterns and migrant characteristics, we investigate whether the migrants were -istics. Second, we examine how southern migrants sorted themselves across potential destinations and the extent to which personal characteristics, such...