The Not-So-Hot Melting Pot: The Persistence of Outcomes for Descendants of the Age of Mass Migration

A-Tier
Journal: American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
Year: 2020
Volume: 12
Issue: 4
Pages: 73-102

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

How persistent are economic gaps across ethnicities? The convergence of ethnic gaps through the third generation of immigrants is difficult to measure because few datasets include grandparental birthplace. I overcome this limitation with a new three-generational dataset that links immigrant grandfathers in 1880 to their grandsons in 1940. I find that the persistence of ethnic gaps in occupational income is 2.5 times stronger than predicted by a standard grandfather-grandson elasticity. While part of the discrepancy is due to measurement error attenuating the grandfather-grandson elasticity, mechanisms related to geography also partially explain the stronger persistence of ethnic occupational differentials.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aejapp:v:12:y:2020:i:4:p:73-102
Journal Field
General
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-29