Below is a review of The Age of Mass Migration: Causes and Economic Impact by Timothy J. Hatton and Jeffrey G. Williamson. Between 1850 and 1914, about 55 million Europeans left for North and South America- the New World- and other European countries in search for better living conditions. Although wars, oppressed religious minorities and ethnic cleansing played important roles, the main determinant of this mass migration were economic reasons. Therefore, with an economic and barefacedly quantitative approach, the authors attempt to establish systematic patterns.
The authors, Timothy J. Hatton and Jeffrey G. Williamson, are two of the best known economic historians of their generation. Hatton, professor of Economics at the University of Essex, …show more content…
The first two chapters of the book display the background and main issues of international migration presented in previous studies by other scholars and historians. The rest of the book can be divided into four sections: the first part, including chapters three to six, explores the causes of migration; the second segment, including chapters seven to eight, focuses on the assimilation of migrants in receiving countries; the third part, including chapters nine to ten, analyses the consequences of migration in labor markets at home and abroad and the convergence of both. Finally, in the last segment, including chapters eleven and twelve, the authors look into the inequalities generated from this …show more content…
On the empirical side, they provide the reader with an excellent, extensive quantitative analysis of the consequences of migrant flows on the economic welfare of nations which experienced high migration rates. Most interestingly, they also discuss and examine the assimilation of immigrants, focusing on the United States, and the effect of the increasing amount of immigrants in the labor market, focal point of concern of migration policy-makers. The Immigration Commission in the United States published in 1911 a report describing an acute racial differentiation between old migrants (those from Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, etc.) and new migrants (those from Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, etc.), classifying new migrants as “unskilled laboring men” from the less advanced economies in Europe, and “far less intelligent” than the old migrants. This is an important example of anti-immigrant attitudes that arise from the belief that immigrants lower living standards for unskilled native workers, and is also a source of restrictive policies. With regard to the assimilation of immigrants in the US, the authors’ evidence are supportive of theoretical expectations: new migrants started at a significant wage disadvantage in comparison with the native-born workers. But in opposition to the old migrants, the authors find no evidence that wage gap reduced over time, i.e.,
The authors, Timothy J. Hatton and Jeffrey G. Williamson, are two of the best known economic historians of their generation. Hatton, professor of Economics at the University of Essex, …show more content…
The first two chapters of the book display the background and main issues of international migration presented in previous studies by other scholars and historians. The rest of the book can be divided into four sections: the first part, including chapters three to six, explores the causes of migration; the second segment, including chapters seven to eight, focuses on the assimilation of migrants in receiving countries; the third part, including chapters nine to ten, analyses the consequences of migration in labor markets at home and abroad and the convergence of both. Finally, in the last segment, including chapters eleven and twelve, the authors look into the inequalities generated from this …show more content…
On the empirical side, they provide the reader with an excellent, extensive quantitative analysis of the consequences of migrant flows on the economic welfare of nations which experienced high migration rates. Most interestingly, they also discuss and examine the assimilation of immigrants, focusing on the United States, and the effect of the increasing amount of immigrants in the labor market, focal point of concern of migration policy-makers. The Immigration Commission in the United States published in 1911 a report describing an acute racial differentiation between old migrants (those from Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, etc.) and new migrants (those from Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, etc.), classifying new migrants as “unskilled laboring men” from the less advanced economies in Europe, and “far less intelligent” than the old migrants. This is an important example of anti-immigrant attitudes that arise from the belief that immigrants lower living standards for unskilled native workers, and is also a source of restrictive policies. With regard to the assimilation of immigrants in the US, the authors’ evidence are supportive of theoretical expectations: new migrants started at a significant wage disadvantage in comparison with the native-born workers. But in opposition to the old migrants, the authors find no evidence that wage gap reduced over time, i.e.,