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Title: Structural Change and Internal Labor Migration: Evidence from the Great Depression

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2019

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Abstract: We analyze sectoral labor reallocation and the reversal of urbanization in the U.S. during the Great Depression. The widespread movement to farms, which serves as a form of migratory insurance during the crisis, is largely towards farms with low levels of mechanization. In contrast, the mechanized agricultural sector sheds workers, many of whom reallocate into low-productivity or subsistence farming. The crisis perverts the normal process of structural change in which workers displaced by farm equipment are released into more productive occupations. These findings complicate the view that the historical experience of U.S. agriculture offers reassuring evidence regarding the labor market consequences of technological change.

Url: https://90e095dd-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/chrisboone/research/migration_depression.pdf?attachauth=ANoY7crCNCIskgpVDYN1Dvq9FqLSDRUCA1JVLTpOWa5-vjMbbOkf34TpnvHzrHGC0dwi04ohtspdYzq53RS7ZNFNjWUjx2cc87AFiZLqytMHg1HgyAO5bZvTyRymaojUxw_RjipDiDaPh

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Authors: Boone, Christopher D.A.; Wilse-Samson, Laurence

Publisher: Cornell University

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Migration and Immigration

Countries: United States