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Author: Wilson, Nicholas
Resulting in 2 citations.
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Munshi, Kaivan Wilson, Nicholas |
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Identity and Occupational Choice in the American Midwest Working Paper, Economics Department, Indiana University, April 2007. Also: http://www.indiana.edu/~econdept/workshops/Spring_2007_Papers/Munshi_midwest1.pdf Cohort(s): NLSY79 Publisher: Economics Department, Indiana University Keyword(s): Ethnic Groups/Ethnicity; Immigrants; Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Labor Market Demographics; Mobility; Occupational Choice; Religion Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. This paper draws a connection between ethnic labor market networks in the American Midwest when it was first being settled, the local identity that emerged endogenously to support these networks, and occupational mobility today. Individuals born in counties with greater ethnic fractionalization in 1860, which we expect to be associated with stronger local identity, are significantly less likely to hold professional jobs, which come with greater geographical mobility, in 2000. A further connection is made between local identity and a particular social institution – the church – to explain the persistence of identity over multiple generations. We expect local identity to be positively correlated with the performance of the local church, which supports and is supported by this cultural trait, and as predicted, counties with greater ethnic fractionalization in 1860 are associated with greater religious participation over many years in the future. |
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Bibliography Citation
Munshi, Kaivan and Nicholas Wilson. "Identity and Occupational Choice in the American Midwest." Working Paper, Economics Department, Indiana University, April 2007. |
| 2. |
Munshi, Kaivan Wilson, Nicholas |
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Identity, Parochial Institutions, and Occupational Choice: Linking the Past to the Present in the American Midwest NBER Working Paper 13717, National Bureau of Economic Research, January 2008. Also: http://www.nber.org/papers/w13717.pdf Cohort(s): NLS General, NLSY79 Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Keyword(s): Endogeneity; Ethnic Groups/Ethnicity; Immigrants; Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Labor Market Demographics; Mobility, Labor Market; Occupational Choice; Religion This paper documents the presence of non-economic career motivations in the U.S. labor market, explores reasons why such motivations could arise, and provides an explanation for why they might have persisted across many generations. The analysis links ethnic (migrant) labor market networks in the American Midwest when it was first being settled, the local identity or attachment to place that emerged endogenously to maintain the integrity of these networks, and occupational choice today. While fractionalization may adversely affect the performance of secular institutions, ethnic competition in the labor market could at the same time have strengthened within-group loyalty and parochial institutions. These values and their complementary institutions, notably the church, could have mutually reinforced each other over many overlapping generations, long after the networks themselves had ceased to be salient. Counties with greater ethnic fractionalization in 1860 are indeed associated with steadily increasing participation in select religious denominations historically dominated by the migrants all the way through the twentieth century. Complementing this result, individuals born in high fractionalization counties are significantly less likely to select into geographically mobile professional occupations and, hence, to migrate out of their county of birth, despite the fact that these counties are indistinguishable from low fractionalization counties in terms of local public good provision and economic activity today. |
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Bibliography Citation
Munshi, Kaivan and Nicholas Wilson. "Identity, Parochial Institutions, and Occupational Choice: Linking the Past to the Present in the American Midwest." NBER Working Paper 13717, National Bureau of Economic Research, January 2008. |