Full Citation

Title: The Entry Into the U.S. Labor Market of Antebellum European Immigrants, 1840-60

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 1997

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Abstract: Immigrants arriving in antebellum America with backgrounds in white-collar, skilled, or semiskilled work were able to move out of unskilled jobs more rapidly than those with backgrounds in farming or unskilled work. Mobility was easier for the young than for the old and for the English and Germans than for the Irish, even when the latter had been white-collar workers or possessed manual skills. Mobility was highest when immigrants settled in rapidly growing counties or in places with many foreign-born people. These findings have important implications for understanding the transfer of human capital. For example, they might explain whether literate and skilled Irish immigrants had difficulty moving out of unskilled jobs because of discrimination or whether they possessed skills less transferable to the US job market.

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Authors: Ferrie, Joseph

Periodical (Full): Explorations in Economic History

Issue: 3

Volume: 34

Pages: 295-330

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Migration and Immigration

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