Competition in the Promised Land: Black Migration and Racial Wage Convergence in the North, 1940–1970

B-Tier
Journal: Journal of Economic History
Year: 2009
Volume: 69
Issue: 3
Pages: 755-782

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

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

Abstract

Four million blacks left the South from 1940 to 1970, doubling the northern black workforce. I exploit variation in migrant flows within skill groups over time to estimate the elasticity of substitution by race. I then use this estimate to calculate counterfactual rates of wage growth. I find that black wages in the North would have been around 7 percent higher in 1970 if not for the migrant influx, while white wages would have remained unchanged. On net, migration was an avenue for black economic advancement, but the migration created both winners and losers.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:cup:jechis:v:69:y:2009:i:03:p:755-782_00
Journal Field
Economic History
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-24