Full Citation

Title: Migration Networks and Location Decisions: Evidence from U.S. Mass Migration

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2021

ISBN:

ISSN:

DOI: 10.1257/app.20180294

NSFID:

PMCID:

PMID:

Abstract: This paper studies how birth town migration networks affected long-run location decisions during historical US migration episodes. We develop a new method to estimate the strength of migration networks for each receiving and sending location. Our estimates imply that when one randomly chosen African American moved from a Southern birth town to a destination county, then 1.9 additional Black migrants made the same move on average. For White migrants from the Great Plains, the average is only 0.4. Networks were particularly important in connecting Black migrants with attractive employment opportunities and played a larger role in less costly moves.

Url: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20180294

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Stuart, Bryan A.; Taylor, Evan J.

Periodical (Full): American Economic Journal: Applied Economics

Issue: 3

Volume: 13

Pages: 134-175

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Methodology and Data Collection, Population Data Science

Countries: