RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Internal Migration, Education, and Intergenerational Mobility: Evidence from American History
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 0619-10265R2
DO 10.3368/jhr.58.2.0619-10265R2
A1 Zachary Ward
YR 2020
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2020/10/02/jhr.58.2.0619-10265R2.abstract
AB To what extent does internal migration lead to upward mobility? Using within-brother variation and a new linked dataset from the early 20th century, I show that internal migration led to significant gains in economic status. On average, the effect of migration was three-to-four times the effect of one year of education; for those raised in poorer households, the effect was up to ten times that of education. The evidence suggests that internal migration was a key strategy for intergenerational progress in a context of rapid industrialization, large rural-to-urban flows and wide interregional income gaps.