TY - JOUR
T1 - Forced migration and human capital
T2 - evidence from post-WWII population transfers
AU - Becker, Sascha O.
AU - Grosfeld, Irena
AU - Grosjean, Pauline
AU - Voigtländer, Nico
AU - Zhuravskaya, Ekaterina
PY - 2020/5
Y1 - 2020/5
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85084474128&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1257/aer.20181518
DO - 10.1257/aer.20181518
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85084474128
SN - 0002-8282
VL - 110
SP - 1430
EP - 1463
JO - American Economic Review
JF - American Economic Review
IS - 5
ER -