The Age of Mass Migration: Causes and Economic Impact

Abstract

About 55 million Europeans migrated to the New World between 1850 and 1914, landing in North and South America and in Australia. This movement, which marked a profound and permanent shift in global population and economic activity, is described in vivid detail by Timothy J. Hatton and Jeffrey G. Williamson, and the causes and effects relative to this great relocation are soundly analysed. The Age of Mass Migration offers a thorough treatment of a period of vital development in the economic history of the modern world and, moreover, devotes much objective consideration to certain economic questions that still baffle us today: Why does a nation's emigration rate typically rise with early industrialization? How do immigrants choose their destinations? Are international labour markets segmented? Do immigrants truly rob jobs from locals? What impact do immigrants have on wage rates and living standards in the host country? In addressing these issues, and many of others, this book takes a new and comprehensive view of mass migration. Although somewhat controversial in terms of method--it assigns to a social phenomenon an economic explanation and interpretation-- The Age of Mass Migration will be useful to all students of migration, historical or contemporary, and to anyone interested in international economic activities.