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Intergenerational altruism in the migration decision calculus: evidence from the African American Great Migration

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  • John Gardner

    (University of Mississippi)

Abstract

It is widely believed that many migrations are undertaken at least in part for the benefit of future generations. To provide evidence on the effect of intergenerational altruism on migration, I estimate a dynamic residential location choice model of the African American Great Migration in which individuals take the welfare of future generations into account when deciding to remain in the Southern USA or migrate to the North. I measure the influence of altruism on the migration decision as the implied difference between the migration probabilities of altruistic individuals and myopic ones who consider only current-generation utility when making their location decisions. My preferred estimates suggest that intergenerational altruism explains between 24 and 42% of the Northward migration that took place during the period that I study, depending on the generation.

Suggested Citation

  • John Gardner, 2020. "Intergenerational altruism in the migration decision calculus: evidence from the African American Great Migration," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(1), pages 115-154, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:33:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s00148-019-00738-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-019-00738-5
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    2. Huaxin Wang-Lu & Octasiano Miguel Valerio Mendoza, 2022. "Job Prospects and Labour Mobility in China," Papers 2207.08282, arXiv.org, revised Sep 2022.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Altruism; Intergenerational altruism; Migration; Immigration; Great migration; Dynamic discrete choice;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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