To Part or Not to Part: Emigration and Inheritance Institutions in Nineteenth-Century Hesse–Cassel

Wegge, Simone A.

doi:10.1006/exeh.1998.0703

Cited by 29 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…What was the economic return to this migration, after accounting for migrant self-selection? To our knowledge, Wegge (1999, 2002, 2010) are the only papers to provide individuallevel evidence on migrant selection in the nineteenth century. 11 Wegge documents intermediate selection for the emigration flow leaving Germany in the 1850s: members of the highest- and lowest-skill occupations were less likely to migrate than were workers in the mid-skill range, such as machinists, metal workers, and brewers.…”

Section: Contemporary and Historical Literature On Migrant Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Europe's Tired, Poor, Huddled Masses: Self-Selection and Economic Outcomes in the Age of Mass Migration

Abramitzky

Boustan

Eriksson

2012

American Economic Review

347

131

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During the age of mass migration (1850–1913), one of the largest migration episodes in history, the United States maintained a nearly open border, allowing the study of migrant decisions unhindered by entry restrictions. We estimate the return to migration while accounting for migrant selection by comparing Norway-to-US migrants with their brothers who stayed in Norway in the late nineteenth century. We also compare fathers of migrants and nonmigrants by wealth and occupation. We find that the return to migration was relatively low (70 percent) and that migrants from urban areas were negatively selected from the sending population. “Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”——Emma Lazarus (1883)1

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Section: Contemporary and Historical Literature On Migrant Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…See Guinnane (1992) and Wegge (1999) for empirical work on the relationship between inheritance systems and immigration in other European contexts. …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Europe's Tired, Poor, Huddled Masses: Self-Selection and Economic Outcomes in the Age of Mass Migration

Abramitzky

Boustan

Eriksson

2012

American Economic Review

347

131

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“…Parey et al (2017) study selection of university graduates who emigrate from Germany, using predicted earnings. Many studies also examine selection issues in a historical context; see Margo (1990), Ferrie (1996), Wegge (1999Wegge ( , 2002, Abramitzky and Braggion (2006) and Abramitzky et al (2012). 5 As those at the top of income distribution play a major role in job creation and innovations, self-selection of migrants at the top of income distribution can be expected to play a bigger role in the success of nations than the sheer numbers and their total income would suggest.…”

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confidence: 99%

Self-selection of Emigrants: Theory and Evidence on Stochastic Dominance in Observable and Unobservable Characteristics

Borjas

Kauppinen

Poutvaara

2018

The Economic Journal

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The Roy model has more precise predictions about the self-selection of migrants than previously realised. The conditions shown to result in positive or negative selection in terms of expected earnings also imply a stochastic dominance relationship between the earnings distributions of migrants and non-migrants. We test these predictions using the Danish full population administrative data. We find strong evidence of positive self-selection of emigrants in terms of pre-emigration earnings and residual earnings: the income distribution for the migrants almost stochastically dominates the distribution for the non-migrants. Decomposing the self-selection in total earnings reveals that unobserved abilities play the dominant role.A central finding in the economic literature on international migration is that emigrants are not randomly selected from the population of the source countries. The nature of the non-random selection affects the level and the distribution of welfare through two major channels. First, the skill distribution of migrants affects the wage structure in both sending and receiving countries (Borjas, 2003). A second effect takes place through the public sector. Immigration creates a fiscal surplus in the receiving country if and only if the net present value of the tax payments of immigrants exceeds the net present value of the costs they impose. Both the immigration of net recipients and the emigration of net payers pose a challenge to the public treasury (Wildasin, 1991;Sinn, 1997), while immigrants who are successfully integrated with the labour market can generate a substantial surplus (Dustmann and Frattini, 2014).Beginning with Borjas (1987), there has been a great deal of interest in deriving and empirically testing models that predict how migrants differ from non-migrants. Many of these studies rely on an application of the Roy model of occupational self-selection. As long as skills are sufficiently transferable across countries, the sorting of persons across countries is mainly determined by international differences in the rate of return to skills. A country like the US would then attract high-skilled workers from more egalitarian countries (i.e. countries offering relatively low rates of return to skills) and

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“…Guinnane (1992) considers the relationship between inheritance and migration in Ireland. Wegge (1999) exploits evidence from Hesse-Cassel, a region in Germany with mixed inheritance practices, and shows that emigration rates were higher in villages that used impartible (or single heir) inheritance systems. …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Have the poor always been less likely to migrate? Evidence from inheritance practices during the age of mass migration

Abramitzky

Boustan

Eriksson

2013

Journal of Development Economics

112

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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.

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To Part or Not to Part: Emigration and Inheritance Institutions in Nineteenth-Century Hesse–Cassel

Cited by 29 publications

References 10 publications

Europe's Tired, Poor, Huddled Masses: Self-Selection and Economic Outcomes in the Age of Mass Migration

Europe's Tired, Poor, Huddled Masses: Self-Selection and Economic Outcomes in the Age of Mass Migration

Self-selection of Emigrants: Theory and Evidence on Stochastic Dominance in Observable and Unobservable Characteristics

Have the poor always been less likely to migrate? Evidence from inheritance practices during the age of mass migration

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