Forced Migration and Human Capital: Evidence from Post-WWII Population Transfers
Journal article: We study the long-run effects of forced migration on investment in education. After World War II, millions of Poles were forcibly uprooted from the Kresy territories of eastern Poland and resettled (primarily) in the newly acquired Western Territories, from which the Germans were expelled. We combine historical censuses with newly collected survey data to show that, while there were no pre-WWII differences in educational attainment, Poles with a family history of forced migration are significantly more educated today than other Poles. These results are driven by a shift in preferences away from material possessions toward investment in human capital.
Author(s)
Sascha Becker, Irena Grosfeld, Pauline Grosjean, Nico Voigtländer, Ekaterina Zhuravskaya
Journal
- American Economic Review
Date of publication
- 2020
Keywords JEL
Pages
- 1430-1463
URL of the HAL notice
Version
- 1
Volume
- 110