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Immigration quotas, World War I, and emigrant flows from the United States in the early 20th century

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  • Greenwood, Michael J.
  • Ward, Zachary
Abstract
Little is known about international return migration because governments rarely track out-migrants. However, one exception occurred early in the 20th century when the United States kept records of emigrants. Using within-country changes in quota allocations in 1921, 1924, and 1929 in combination with 1908–1932 data on specific countries of intended destination of the emigrants, we estimate the effect of quotas on (1) out-migration rates, (2) emigration across skill groups, and (3) the duration of temporary migrants' stays in the U.S. Higher quota restrictions reduced emigration rates, mostly for unskilled laborers and farmers. Higher quota restrictions also increased duration of stay, as the share of migrants staying less than 5years fell and the share staying 5 to 10years rose. Return migration behavior was also associated with changes in previous immigrant cohort's networks and savings. Return migration rates were also low during World War I, and more significant population losses from the War in home countries discouraged return migration. Finally, out-migration of German migrants increased substantially during the 1920s.

Suggested Citation

  • Greenwood, Michael J. & Ward, Zachary, 2015. "Immigration quotas, World War I, and emigrant flows from the United States in the early 20th century," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 76-96.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:exehis:v:55:y:2015:i:c:p:76-96
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2014.05.001
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    6. Escamilla-Guerrero, David & López-Alonso, Moramay, 2023. "Migrant Self-Selection and Random Shocks: Evidence from the Panic of 1907," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 83(1), pages 45-85, March.
    7. Timothy J. Hatton & Zachary Ward, 2024. "International Migration in the Atlantic Economy 1850–1940," Springer Books, in: Claude Diebolt & Michael Haupert (ed.), Handbook of Cliometrics, edition 3, pages 507-535, Springer.
    8. Philipp Ager & Casper Worm Hansen, 2016. "National Immigration Quotas and Local Economic Growth," Discussion Papers 16-11, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    9. Philipp Ager & James J Feigenbaum & Casper W Hansen & Hui Ren Tan, 2024. "How the Other Half Died: Immigration and Mortality in U.S. Cities," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 91(1), pages 1-44.
    10. Ager, Philipp & Abramitzky, Ran & Boustan, Leah & Cohen, Elior David & Hansen, Casper Worm, 2019. "The Effects of Immigration on the Economy: Lessons from the 1920s Border Closure," CEPR Discussion Papers 14165, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Jeff Biddle & Elior Cohen, 2022. "Immigration Disruptions and the Wages of Unskilled Labor in the 1920s," Research Working Paper RWP 2022-12, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
    12. Xu, Dafeng, 2019. "Surname-based ethnicity and ethnic segregation in the early twentieth century U.S," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 1-19.
    13. Tabellini, Marco, 2020. "Gifts of the Immigrants, Woes of the Natives: Lessons from the Age of Mass Migration," CEPR Discussion Papers 14317, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Massey, Catherine G., 2016. "Immigration quotas and immigrant selection," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 21-40.
    15. Ran Abramitzky & Philipp Ager & Leah Boustan & Elior Cohen & Casper Hansen, 2021. "The Effect of Immigration on Local Labor Markets: Lessons from the 1920s Border Closure," Research Working Paper RWP 21-09, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
    16. Kirk Doran & Chungeun Yoon, 2019. "Immigration and Invention: Does Language Matter?," NBER Chapters, in: The Roles of Immigrants and Foreign Students in US Science, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, pages 123-145, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Byron Lew & Bruce Cater, 2018. "Farm mechanization on an otherwise ‘featureless’ plain: tractors on the Northern Great Plains and immigration policy of the 1920s," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 12(2), pages 181-218, May.
    18. Andreas Vortisch, 2023. "The impact of the Johnson–Reed Act on Filipino labor market outcomes," French Stata Users' Group Meetings 2023 12, Stata Users Group.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Emigration; Return migration; World War I; Immigration quotas;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J68 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Public Policy
    • N3 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy

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