Full Citation

Title: The effects of immigration restriction laws on immigrant segregation in the early twentieth century U.S.

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2020

ISBN:

ISSN: 01475967

DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2019.10.004

NSFID:

PMCID:

PMID:

Abstract: Several immigration restriction laws, passed in the background of anti-immigration populism in the early 1920s, put an end to the period of “open borders” in the U.S. In this paper, I use the linked county sample in the early twentieth century to examine how immigration restriction laws led to different trends in segregation across groups. Difference-in-difference estimations show that all immigrant groups followed similar trends in segregation before the passage of immigration laws; afterwards, segregation among immigrants from more restricted countries declined relative to segregation among immigrants from less restricted countries. I then construct linked census samples at the individual level, and study mechanisms behind de-segregation. I find two possible mechanisms: (a) limitations on new arrivals; (b) selection on return migration. Further analyses suggest that de-segregation might not benefit immigrants’ socioeconomic assimilation.

Url: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147596718303901?via%3Dihub

Url: https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0147596718303901

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Xu, Dafeng

Periodical (Full): Journal of Comparative Economics

Issue: 2

Volume: 48

Pages: 422-447

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Housing and Segregation, Migration and Immigration, Other

Countries: