Forced Migration and Human Capital: Evidence from Post-WWII Population Transfers

Sascha Becker, Irena Grosfeld, Pauline Grosjean, Nico Voigtländer and Ekaterina Zhuravskaya

American Economic Review, 2020, vol. 110, issue 5, 1430-63

Abstract: We study the long-run effects of forced migration on investment in education. After World War II, millions of Poles were forcibly uprooted from the Kresy territories of eastern Poland and resettled ( primarily) in the newly acquired Western Territories, from which the Germans were expelled. We combine historical censuses with newly collected survey data to show that, while there were no pre-WWII differences in educational attainment, Poles with a family history of forced migration are significantly more educated today than other Poles. These results are driven by a shift in preferences away from material possessions toward investment in human capital.

JEL-codes: I25 I26 J24 N34 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (83)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Forced Migration and Human Capital: Evidence from Post-WWII Population Transfers (2020)
Working Paper: Forced Migration and Human Capital: Evidence from Post-WWII Population Transfers (2020)
Working Paper: Forced Migration and Human Capital: Evidence from Post-WWII Population Transfers (2018)
Working Paper: Forced Migration and Human Capital: Evidence from Post-WWII Population Transfers (2018)
Working Paper: Forced Migration and Human Capital: Evidence from Post-WWII Population Transfers (2018)
Working Paper: Forced Migration and Human Capital: Evidence from Post-WWII Population Transfers (2018)
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DOI: 10.1257/aer.20181518

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