IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/exehis/v56y2015icp32-52.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Rural crisis and rural exodus? Local migration dynamics during the crisis of the 1840s in Flanders (Belgium)

Author

Listed:
  • Deschacht, Nick
  • Winter, Anne

Abstract

This article analyses the migration dynamics in the wake of the 1845–1847 subsistence crisis in Flanders by means of a quantitative analysis of key demographic and economic data at municipal level. The data are unique in that they allow to directly measure in-migration and out-migration at the level of individual villages and towns. The results show that contrary to the powerful image of a push-driven rural exodus, it was not the villages hardest hit by the crisis that recorded the highest levels of migration. Rather, in-migration and out-migration rates often moved in tandem, and were determined primarily by existing migration traditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Deschacht, Nick & Winter, Anne, 2015. "Rural crisis and rural exodus? Local migration dynamics during the crisis of the 1840s in Flanders (Belgium)," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 32-52.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:exehis:v:56:y:2015:i:c:p:32-52
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2014.11.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014498314000424
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eeh.2014.11.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Humphries, Jane, 1990. "Enclosures, Common Rights, and Women: The Proletarianization of Families in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(1), pages 17-42, March.
    2. Dribe, Martin, 2003. "Dealing with economic stress through migration: Lessons from nineteenth century rural Sweden," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(3), pages 271-299, December.
    3. Williamson,Jeffrey G., 1990. "Coping with City Growth during the British Industrial Revolution," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521364805, September.
    4. Gráda, Cormac Ó & O'Rourke, Kevin H., 1997. "Migration as disaster relief: Lessons from the Great Irish Famine," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(1), pages 3-25, April.
    5. O'Rourke, Kevin, 1995. "Emigration and Living Standards in Ireland since the Famine," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 8(4), pages 407-421, November.
    6. Wegge, Simone A., 1998. "Chain Migration and Information Networks: Evidence From Nineteenth-Century Hesse-Cassel," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 58(4), pages 957-986, December.
    7. Lucassen, Jan & Lucassen, Leo, 2009. "The mobility transition revisited, 1500–1900: what the case of Europe can offer to global history," Journal of Global History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(3), pages 347-377, November.
    8. Tommy Bengtsson & Cameron Campbell & James Z. Lee, 2004. "Life Under Pressure: Mortality and Living Standards in Europe and Asia, 1700-1900," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262025515, April.
    9. Vincent Tassenaar & Peter Groote, 2000. "Hunger and migration in a rural-traditional area in the nineteenth century," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 13(3), pages 465-483.
    10. Hatton, Timothy J. & Williamson, Jeffrey G., 1998. "The Age of Mass Migration: Causes and Economic Impact," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195116519.
    11. Barry Chiswick, 1999. "Are Immigrants Favorably Self-Selected?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 181-185, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Azio Barani, 2021. "Innovazione tecnologica e lavoro: automazione, occupazione e impatti socio-economici," QUADERNI DI ECONOMIA DEL LAVORO, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 0(114), pages 51-79.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Collins, William J. & Zimran, Ariell, 2019. "The economic assimilation of Irish Famine migrants to the United States," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    2. Christian Lumpe & Claudia Lumpe, 2017. "German emigration via Bremen in the Weimar Republic (1920–1932)," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201753, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    3. Martin Dribe & Björn Eriksson & Jonas Helgertz, 2023. "From Sweden to America: migrant selection in the transatlantic migration, 1890–1910," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 27(1), pages 24-44.
    4. Juif, Dácil & Quiroga, Gloria, 2019. "Do you have to be tall and educated to be a migrant? Evidence from Spanish recruitment records, 1890–1950," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 115-124.
    5. Kevin H. O'Rourke, 2003. "The Era of Free Migration: Lessons for Today," Trinity Economics Papers 200315, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics.
    6. Cevat Giray Aksoy & Panu Poutvaara, 2019. "Refugees' and Irregular Migrants' Self-Selection into Europe: Who Migrates Where?," CESifo Working Paper Series 7781, CESifo.
    7. Ran Abramitzky & Leah Boustan, 2017. "Immigration in American Economic History," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1311-1345, December.
    8. Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2001. "Demographic shocks and global factor flows," Conference Series ; [Proceedings], Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, vol. 46.
    9. Timothy J. Hatton & Zachary Ward, 2024. "International Migration in the Atlantic Economy 1850–1940," Springer Books, in: Claude Diebolt & Michael Haupert (ed.), Handbook of Cliometrics, edition 3, pages 507-535, Springer.
    10. Hendrik P. van Dalen & Kène Henkens, 2006. "When the Quality of a Nation triggers Emigration," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 06-026/1, Tinbergen Institute.
    11. John Alcorn, 2022. "Mechanisms of Mass Migration: An Essay in Methodological Individualism," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 37(Fall 2022), pages 61-79.
    12. Curran, Declan & Fröling, Maria, 2010. "Large-scale mortality shocks and the Great Irish Famine 1845-1852," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 1302-1314, September.
    13. Abramitzky, Ran & Boustan, Leah Platt & Eriksson, Katherine, 2013. "Have the poor always been less likely to migrate? Evidence from inheritance practices during the age of mass migration," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 2-14.
    14. Matthias Blum & Karl‐Peter Krauss & Dmytro Myeshkov, 2022. "Human capital transfer of German‐speaking migrants in eastern Europe, 1780s–1820s," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 75(3), pages 703-738, August.
    15. Alexander A. J. Wulfers, 2018. "Skill Selection and American Immigration Policy in the Interwar Period," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _161, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    16. Hatton, Timothy J. & Williamson, Jeffrey G., 2011. "Are Third World Emigration Forces Abating?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 20-32, January.
    17. Clemens, Michael A. & Mendola, Mariapia, 2020. "Migration from Developing Countries: Selection, Income Elasticity, and Simpson's Paradox," IZA Discussion Papers 13612, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. van Dalen, H.P. & Henkens, K., 2008. "Emigration Intentions : Mere Words or True Plans? Explaining International Migration Intentions and Behavior," Discussion Paper 2008-60, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    19. Dorner, Matthias & Harhoff, Dietmar & Hinz, Tina & Hoisl, Karin & Bender, Stefan, 2016. "Social ties for labor market access - Lessons from the migration of East German inventors," IAB-Discussion Paper 201641, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    20. Ager, Philipp & Eriksson, Katherine & Hansen, Casper Worm & Lønstrup, Lars, 2020. "How the 1906 San Francisco earthquake shaped economic activity in the American West," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Migration; Nineteenth century; Rural crisis; Belgium; Flanders;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N33 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N93 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Europe: Pre-1913

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:exehis:v:56:y:2015:i:c:p:32-52. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622830 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.