Immigration Disruptions and the Wages of Unskilled Labor in the 1920s

Abstract

An era of mass immigration into the United States ended with the onset of World War I in Europe, followed by the passage of restrictive immigration laws in 1921 and 1924. We analyze various sources of wage data collected in the 1910-1929 period to explore the impact of this significant disruption of the flow of immigration on the wages of unskilled labor. Our approach to identification entails examining differences in wages across local labor markets and industries differentially exposed to the disruptions in immigration due to different ethnic compositions of their immigrant populations in the pre-war era. We find evidence strongly suggesting that during the 1920s, industries and regions more affected by the disruptions in immigration experienced larger reductions in flows of immigrants that resulted in increased wages of unskilled labor.

The Effects of Immigration in a Developing Country: Brazil in the Age of Mass Migration

“…This paper also contributes to the literature focusing on the economics of the Age of Mass Migration (e.g., Abramitzky and Boustan 2017;Hatton and Ward 2019), and more particularly to studies of the effects of immigration in this period (e.g., Abramitzky et al 2023;Ager et al 2021;Cohen and Biddle 2022;Price, vom Lehn, and Wilson 2023;Tabellini 2020). 10 Just as the economics of immigration has focused on developed-10 In addition to bringing a different perspective with its focus on Brazil, this paper provides an important insight on the effects of immigration to the United States in the Age of Mass Migration, albeit in a counterfactual sense.…”

“…Canonical studies focus on the labor-market effects of immigration, largely in the United States after the transition to its current immigration regime in 1965 (e.g., Abramitzky and Boustan 2017;Borjas 2003Borjas , 2014Card 1990Card , 2005Hanson 2009;Kerr and Kerr 2011), with a smaller set focusing on the effects of immigration in other modern developed countries (e.g., Dustmann, Schönberg, and Stuhler 2016;Manacorda, Manning, and Wadsworth 2012). This literature is enriched by studies focusing on the effects of immigration in the United States during the Age of Mass Migration (e.g., Abramitzky et al 2023;Ager et al 2021;Cohen and Biddle 2022;Hatton and Williamson 1998;Price, vom Lehn, and Wilson 2023;Tabellini 2020), which exploit a variety of advantages of this historical setting, such as the long time horizon, open borders, the ability to follow individuals over time, and differences in economic structure to important feature of Brazilian immigration-was considered but was ultimately banned by the Foran Act in 1885. In the later years of the Age of Mass Migration, southern and eastern European immigrants were criticized for their supposed unwillingness to settle in the US South (Benton-Cohen 2018;Zimran 2022).…”

The Effects of Immigration in a Developing Country: Brazil in the Age of Mass Migration

“…This paper also contributes to the literature focusing on the economics of the Age of Mass Migration (e.g., Abramitzky and Boustan 2017;Hatton and Ward 2019), and more particularly to studies of the effects of immigration in this period (e.g., Abramitzky et al 2023;Ager et al 2021;Cohen and Biddle 2022;Price, vom Lehn, and Wilson 2023;Tabellini 2020). 10 Just as the economics of immigration has focused on developed-10 In addition to bringing a different perspective with its focus on Brazil, this paper provides an important insight on the effects of immigration to the United States in the Age of Mass Migration, albeit in a counterfactual sense.…”

“…Canonical studies focus on the labor-market effects of immigration, largely in the United States after the transition to its current immigration regime in 1965 (e.g., Abramitzky and Boustan 2017;Borjas 2003Borjas , 2014Card 1990Card , 2005Hanson 2009;Kerr and Kerr 2011), with a smaller set focusing on the effects of immigration in other modern developed countries (e.g., Dustmann, Schönberg, and Stuhler 2016;Manacorda, Manning, and Wadsworth 2012). This literature is enriched by studies focusing on the effects of immigration in the United States during the Age of Mass Migration (e.g., Abramitzky et al 2023;Ager et al 2021;Cohen and Biddle 2022;Hatton and Williamson 1998;Price, vom Lehn, and Wilson 2023;Tabellini 2020), which exploit a variety of advantages of this historical setting, such as the long time horizon, open borders, the ability to follow individuals over time, and differences in economic structure to important feature of Brazilian immigration-was considered but was ultimately banned by the Foran Act in 1885. In the later years of the Age of Mass Migration, southern and eastern European immigrants were criticized for their supposed unwillingness to settle in the US South (Benton-Cohen 2018;Zimran 2022).…”