Joel Mokyr|Cormac Ó Gráda
Emigration and poverty in prefamine Ireland
Northwestern University
repeated failure irelands potato crop late 1840s led major famine sparked surge migration us build new dataset irish immigrants sons linking males 1850 1880 us census records comparison also link german british immigrants sons males us nativeheaded households document decline observable human capital famineera irish migrants compared prefamine irish migrants groups 1850 census well worse labor market outcomes disparity labor market outcomes persists next generation immigrants natives sons compared 1880 nonetheless find strong evidence intergenerational convergence famineera irish sons experienced much smaller gap occupational status 1880 fathers 1850 disparities even smaller irish children compared observationally similar native white households descriptive analysis mobility children famine irish indicates catholic surname born ireland associated less upward mobility results contribute literatures immigrant assimilation refugee migration age mass migration