Working papers
“Automation After the Assembly Line: Computerized Machine Tools, Employment and Productivity in the United States,” with Jiwon Choi and David Clingingsmith. NBER Working Paper 30400. August 2022.
“Refugees without Assistance: English-Language Attainment and Economic Outcomes in the Early Twentieth Century ,” with Ran Abramitzky, Peter Catron, Dylan Connor and Rob Voigt. SocArXiv, 14 Dec. 2021. Revision requested at American Sociological Review.
“Leaving the Enclave: Historical Evidence on Immigrant Mobility from the Industrial Removal Office,” with Ran Abramitzky and Dylan Connor. NBER Working Paper 27372, June 2020. Revision requested at Journal of Economic History.
Books
Streets of Gold: America’s Untold Story of Immigrant Success, PublicAffairs, 2022 (with Ran Abramitzky).
Competition in the Promised Land: Black Migrants in Northern Cities and Labor Markets, Princeton University Press, 2017.
Article publications
“Does Condominium Development Lead to Gentrification,” with Robert A. Margo, Matthew M. Miller, James M. Reeves and Justin P. Steil. NBER Working Paper 26170, August 2019. Journal of Urban Economics: Insights, Forthcoming.
“The Effects of Immigration on the Economy: Lessons from the 1920s Border Closure,” with Ran Abramitzy, Philipp Ager, Elior Cohen and Casper Worm Hansen. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2023.
“Computational Analysis of 140 Years of US Political Speeches Reveals More Positive But Increasingly Polarized Framing of Immigration,” with Dallas Card, Ran Abramitzky, Dan Jurafsky, et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2022.
"The Intergenerational Effects of a Large Wealth Shock: White Southerners after the Civil War," with Philipp Ager and Katherine Eriksson. American Economic Review, 2021.
"Automated Linking of Historical Data," with Ran Abramitzky, Katherine Eriksson, James Feigenbaum and Santiago Perez. Journal of Economic Literature, 2021.
“Intergenerational Mobility of Immigrants over Two Centuries,” with Ran Abramitzky, Elisa Jacome & Santiago Perez. American Economic Review, 2021.
"The Effect of Natural Disasters on Economic Activity in US Counties: A Century of Data," with Matthew Kahn, Paul Rhode and Maria Lucia Yanguas. Journal of Urban Economics, 2020.
"Discrimination and the Returns to Cultural Assimilation in the Age of Mass Migration" with Ran Abramitzky, Katherine Eriksson and Stephanie Hao. AEA Papers and Proceedings, May 2020.
"Do Immigrants Assimilate More Slowly Today Than in the Past?" with Ran Abramitzky and Katherine Eriksson. American Economic Review: Insights, 2020. (Previously circulated as: Cultural Assimilation during the Age of Mass Migration, NBER Working Paper 22381).
"Variation in Women's Success across PhD Programs in Economics," with Andrew Langan. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2019.
"To the New World and Back Again: Return Migrants in the Age of Mass Migration," with Ran Abramitzky and Katherine Eriksson. Industrial and Labor Relations Review 2019.
"Urbanization in the United States, 1800-2000," with Devin Bunten and Owen Hearey. In Oxford Handbook of American Economic History, 2018.
"Immigration in American Economic History," with Ran Abramitzky. In Journal of Economic Literature, December 2017 .
"Racial Differences in Health in Long-Run Perspective," with Robert A. Margo. In Oxford Handbook of Economics and Human Biology, 2016.
"The Origin and Persistence of Black-White Differences in Women's Labor Force Participation," with William J. Collins. In Human Capital in History: The American Record, 2014.
"A Nation of Immigrants: Assimilation and Economic Outcomes in the Age of Mass Migration," with Ran Abramitzky and Katherine Eriksson. Journal of Political Economy, 2014.
"A Silver Lining to White Flight? White Suburbanization and African-American Homeownership, 1940-1980," with Robert A. Margo. Journal of Urban Economics, 2013.
"Local Public Goods and the Demand for High-Income Municipalities," Journal of Urban Economics, 2013.
"The Effect of Rising Income Inequality on Taxation and Public Expenditures: Evidence from US Municipalities and School Districts, 1970-2000," with Fernando Ferreira, Hernan Winkler and Eric Zolt. Review of Economics and Statistics, 2013.
*** Replication memo for "The Effect of Rising Income Inequality on Taxation and Public Expenditure"
"Have the Poor Always Been Less Likely to Migrate? Evidence from Inheritance Practices during the Age of Mass Migration," with Ran Abramitzky and Katherine Eriksson. Journal of Development Economics, 2013.
"Population Trends as a Counterweight to Central City Decline," with Allison Shertzer. Demography, 2013.
"Europe's Tired, Poor, Huddled Masses: Self-Selection and Economic Outcomes in the Age of Mass Migration," with Ran Abramitzky and Katherine Eriksson. American Economic Review, 2012.
| Web Appendix |
"Moving to Higher Ground: Migration Response to Natural Disasters in the Early Twentieth Century," with Matthew E. Kahn and Paul W. Rhode. AEA Papers and Proceedings, 2012.
"School Desegregation and Urban Change: Evidence from City Boundaries" American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, Jan 2012.
"Racial Residential Segregation in American Cities" in Handbook of Urban Economics and Planning, eds. Nancy Brooks, Kieran Donaghy and Gerrit Knaap. Oxford University Press, 2011.
"The Effect of Internal Migration on Local Labor Markets: American Cities During the Great Depression," with Price Fishback and Shawn Kantor. Journal of Labor Economics, Oct 2010.
"Was Postwar Suburbanization 'White Flight'? Evidence from the Black Migration" Quarterly Journal of Economics, Feb 2010.
"Job Decentralization and Residential Location," with Robert A. Margo. Brookings-Wharton Papers on Urban Affairs, 2009.
**Find shorter research brief version of paper here
"Competition in the Promised Land: Black Migration and Racial Wage Convergence in the North, 1940-1970" Journal of Economic History. Sept 2009: 756-783.
"Race, Segregation, and Postal Employment: New Evidence on Spatial Mismatch," with Robert A. Margo. Journal of Urban Economics. Jan 2009: 1-10.
"Were Jews Political Refugees or Economic Migrants? Assessing the Persecution Theory of Jewish Emigration, 1881-1914" in The New Comparative Economic History: Essays in Honour of Jeffrey G. Williamson. (MIT Press, 2007)
"Black Migration, White Flight: The Effect of Black Migration on Northern Cities and Labor Markets." Journal of Economic History. June 2007. (Dissertation summary).
Public Lectures
| Video of talk |
| Summary | Video of lecture |
Selected Reviews
"Sharing the Prize: The Economics of the Civil Rights Revolution in the American South," by Gavin Wright. EH.Net. August 2013.
| Read review |
"Natural Experiments of History" (edited by Jared Diamond and James A. Robinson. Journal of Economic Literature. December 2010.
| Download PDF |