Passenger Shipping Cartels and Their Effect on Trans-Atlantic Migration

A-Tier
Journal: Review of Economics and Statistics
Year: 2008
Volume: 90
Issue: 1
Pages: 119-133

Authors (3)

George Deltas (University of Illinois at Urba...) Richard Sicotte (not in RePEc) Peter Tomczak (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

1.345 = (α=2.02 / 3 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

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

Abstract

We investigate the impact of passenger shipping cartels on trans-Atlantic migration during the early twentieth century. We assemble from primary sources a detailed database of passenger flows and cartel operations and show that cartel operation reduced migratory flows by approximately 20% to 25%. Further, we show that there was no strong intertemporal substitution in migration to North America (at least in the short run) and, therefore, that the effects of cartel operation were not "undone" by later migration. Lastly, we find that cartel operation had no appreciable effect on the variability of migration flows, providing evidence against the notion that unfettered competition was destabilizing to turn-of-the-century transportation markets. Copyright by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:tpr:restat:v:90:y:2008:i:1:p:119-133
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25