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Title: Did Workers Substitute Wages for Opportunity? Evidence from the United States, 1850-1880

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2011

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Abstract: How do we account for patterns of U.S. internal migration during the nineteenth century? This is an old question in American economic history. Interest in this topic stems in part from the sheer number of people who moved great distances during this period. Between 1850 and 1880, more than 20 percent of white native-born Americans were residing outside their state of birth, a figure that masks considerable within-state mobility. But much of the interest in internal migration patterns stems from their apparent departure from economic theory.Although much internal migration occurred within states, the dominant direction of moves during this period was east to west. Frontier migration is puzzling because of the Easterlin paradox, that midwestern per capita incomes were lower than those in the northeast. Part of this puzzle can be explained by regional price differences. Coelho and Shepherd (1976) find that, between 1850 and 1880, nonfarm wages in the midwest were actually higher than they were in the northeast when deflated by regional price indexes. Similarly, Margo (1999) finds that real wages were higher in the midwest than the northeast between 1820 and 1860.

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Authors: Salisbury, Laura

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Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Other

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