The missing ingredient: distance. Internal migration and its long-term economic impact in the United States

Abstract

This paper examines if internal migrants at the turn of the 20 th century have influenced the long-term economic development of the counties where they settled over 100 years ago. Using Census microdata from 1880 and 1910, the distance travelled by American-born migrants between birthplace and county of residence is examined to assess its relevance for the economic development of US counties today. The settlement patterns of domestic migrants across the 48 continental states are then linked to current county-level development. Factors influencing both migration at the time and the level of development of the county today are controlled for. The results of the analysis underline the economic importance of internal migration. Counties that attracted American-born migrants more than 100 years ago are significantly richer today. Moreover, distance is crucial for the impact of internal migration on long-term economic development; the larger the distance travelled by domestic migrants, the greater the long-term economic impact on the receiving territories.

The legacy of large dams in the United States

“…In this period, several dams were built for multiple purposes including navigation (“ Historical background ”), but water was not a limiting factor and increasing water demands could be met without major risks of water shortage. The rapid growth in population was paralleled by high rates of internal geographic mobility (Ferrie 2005 ), which largely exceeded that of other Western country (Berlepsch and Rodríguez-Pose 2019 ). Geographical mobility has mostly taken the form of westward migration, with the geographical center of the population constantly shifting towards the West (Fig.…”

“…This method has some caveats. First, because of its focus, our large-scale analysis of human population in the US did not engage with a significant part of American history related to Native-American tribes, who lived across North America, and the fact that the westward expansion was far from peaceful (Berlepsch and Rodríguez-Pose 2019 ). Second, while we focused on the role of dams and water supply, there are other drivers that contribute to explain spatial and temporal changes in the distribution of human population and water demand over the past two centuries.…”

Competitiveness of Germany and the Labour Market: A Migration Perspective

“…Considering the non-economic factors affecting migration flows, distance is an essential factor as it is much easier to migrate from one country to another if the distance is short. As distance is used as a proxy for migration costs, it is negatively associated with migration flows (Berlepsch & Rodríguez-Pose, 2021;World Bank, 2018). Identifying whether the distance is a significant factor affecting migration is also important in our research, taking into account that the distances between the considered Nordic countries and Germany vary.…”

Effects of the Geographical Distance on Economic Well-being: Evidence from Colombia with Emphasis on Displaced Population

“…The migration is frequently related to international flows, leaving internal movements relegated to the background (Vullnetari, 2013;von Berlepsch and Rodríguez-Pose, 2019). As Kuhn (2015) points out, internal migration remains relatively understudied, under-measured, and misunderstood.…”