Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

The Land of Opportunity? Social Class, Returns to Migration, and Occupational Mobility of Swedish Immigrants, 1880–1910

Castillo, Marcos LU orcid (2025) In European Review of Economic History
Abstract
I study the economic returns to migration among Swedish immigrants in the United States in 1900 and 1910, by social class. Using linked data from full-count Swedish and US censuses via the Swedish Emigrant Register, I first estimate the rates of return to migration using two identification strategies, with the returns exceeding 60 percent, notably higher for migrants from lower social classes. Furthermore, most migrants did not experience substantial occupational upgrade compared to their brothers in Sweden, which suggests that while migration yielded sizeable economic returns, they were primarily due to higher US wages rather than occupational mobility.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
in
European Review of Economic History
publisher
Oxford University Press
ISSN
1474-0044
DOI
10.1093/ereh/heaf006
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
fcb4be2d-f7ce-4591-badb-97b7991f8137
date added to LUP
2025-05-21 09:24:29
date last changed
2025-05-21 13:44:10
@article{fcb4be2d-f7ce-4591-badb-97b7991f8137,
  abstract     = {{I study the economic returns to migration among Swedish immigrants in the United States in 1900 and 1910, by social class. Using linked data from full-count Swedish and US censuses via the Swedish Emigrant Register, I first estimate the rates of return to migration using two identification strategies, with the returns exceeding 60 percent, notably higher for migrants from lower social classes. Furthermore, most migrants did not experience substantial occupational upgrade compared to their brothers in Sweden, which suggests that while migration yielded sizeable economic returns, they were primarily due to higher US wages rather than occupational mobility.}},
  author       = {{Castillo, Marcos}},
  issn         = {{1474-0044}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{European Review of Economic History}},
  title        = {{The Land of Opportunity? Social Class, Returns to Migration, and Occupational Mobility of Swedish Immigrants, 1880–1910}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ereh/heaf006}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/ereh/heaf006}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}