Industry & Identity: The Migration Linkage between Economic & Cultural Change

• In Event: Political Economy of Internal Migration

Abstract

We study the role of migration in changing the cultural map of England and Wales during the Second Industrial Revolution. In the latter half of the 19th century, Britain underwent a shift in the spatial pattern of economic activity and significant cultural convergence towards the culture of London. Using rich microdata on individuals’ names and migration decisions, we document that this homogenization varied across regions and that heterogeneity was mediated by migration patterns. To characterize the heterogeneity, we develop and estimate a quantitative spatial model in which individuals choose migration destinations and cultural identities driven by both economic and cultural considerations. The model indicates that industrialization dilutes local cultures in central hubs which attract migrants but preserves it in peripheral areas by reducing the incentives to out-migrate. Our results provide an explanation for the persistence of local identities in peripheral regions that develop economically and revise the prevailing notion in the modernization literature, which mainly emphasizes the homogenizing effect of labor migration.

Authors

• Theo Serlin, Stanford University

• Vasiliki Fouka, Stanford University