Calendrier du 01 mars 2019
Casual Friday Development Seminar - Brown Bag Seminar
Du 01/03/2019 de 12:45 à 13:45
Salle R2.01, 48 Bd Jourdan 75014 Paris
FERNANDEZ-SANCHEZ Martin (PSE)
Mass Migration and Education over a Century: Evidence from the Galician Diaspora in Latin America
This paper analyzes the impact of mass migration on human capital accumulation at origin over a century. I examine one of the largest migration episodes in the XX century, the Galician diaspora in Latin America. Using data from different historical sources I build a unique database of all Galician villages from 1860 to today with information on migration, literacy rates, migrants' associations and their investments at origin. The identification relies on exogenous variation provided by pull and push factors in combination with a proxy of migrant networks. The results show that in the period 1900-1930, migration significantly increased literacy rates due to the selection of illiterate individuals into migration and an increase in the stock of literate ones. I provide suggestive evidence that literate migrants were more likely to return. Historical migration (1900-1930) is associated with more schools per capita and higher enrolment rates in the 1970s as well as higher schooling levels over 1981-2011. These findings are largely explained by the construction of schools by migrants' associations in 1910-1940 and by a change in perceptions about the value of education.