Data and Code for: Migration Networks and Location Decisions: Evidence from U.S. Mass Migration

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Bryan A. Stuart, George Washington University; Evan J. Taylor, University of Arizona

Version: View help for Version V1

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
NationalFile_20170801.txt	text/plain	298.5 MB	03/18/2020 04:18:PM
US_county_2000.dbf	text/plain	914.7 KB	03/18/2020 04:18:PM
US_county_2000.shp	application/octet-stream	75.2 MB	03/18/2020 04:18:PM
US_pop_places_RR_dist.dta	application/x-stata	21.5 MB	03/18/2020 04:18:PM
US_pop_places_RR_join.dta	application/x-stata	36.3 MB	03/18/2020 04:18:PM
US_state_2000.dbf	application/octet-stream	4.1 KB	03/18/2020 04:18:PM
US_state_2000.shp	application/octet-stream	32 MB	03/18/2020 04:18:PM
ZIP_COUNTY_032010.xlsx	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet	2 MB	03/18/2020 04:18:PM
county_nhgis.dta	application/x-stata	21.3 MB	03/18/2020 04:18:PM
geocorr2k.csv	text/csv	2.1 MB	03/18/2020 04:18:PM

Project Description

Summary: This paper studies how birth town migration networks affected long-run location decisions during historical U.S. migration episodes. We develop a new method to estimate the strength of migration networks for each receiving and sending location. Our estimates imply that when one randomly chosen African American moved from a Southern birth town to a destination county, then 1.9 additional black migrants made the same move on average. For white migrants from the Great Plains, the average is only 0.4. Networks were particularly important in connecting black migrants with attractive employment opportunities and played a larger role in less costly moves.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: migration networks; location decisions; social interactions; Great Migration

JEL Classification:
      J61 Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
      N32 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: U.S.; Canada: 1913-
      O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
      R23 Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics: Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population; Neighborhood Characteristics
      Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

Geographic Coverage: United States

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Published Versions

V1 [2021-06-15]

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DDI 2.5

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