The Economics of Migrant Transport between Europe and the United States, 1900-1914
Early twentieth century migration across the North Atlantic was a human drama, a major international demographic shift, and a massive historical experiment in ethnic transformation during a period of unprecedented globalization. It was also a far-reaching multinational business containing both risks...
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ftcdlib:qt24374543 2023-05-15T17:35:38+02:00 The Economics of Migrant Transport between Europe and the United States, 1900-1914 Keeling, Drew 2005-05-11 application/pdf http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/24374543 english eng eScholarship, University of California qt24374543 http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/24374543 public Keeling, Drew. (2005). The Economics of Migrant Transport between Europe and the United States, 1900-1914. UC World History Workshop. UC Berkeley: UC World History Workshop. Retrieved from: http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/24374543 migration chain migration immigration policy transportation shipping ocean travel risk managment demographic change labor markets globalization Atlantic Basin article 2005 ftcdlib 2016-04-02T18:32:55Z Early twentieth century migration across the North Atlantic was a human drama, a major international demographic shift, and a massive historical experiment in ethnic transformation during a period of unprecedented globalization. It was also a far-reaching multinational business containing both risks and rewards for its three fundamental participants: the movers, the moved, and the sovereign authorities on either side of the borders being traversed. Prior studies have not adequately explained this business or appreciated its significance. Most young, single, healthy, and unskilled lower-to-middle income males living in emigration-prone regions of Europe in the early 1900s could legally and readily access relatively attractive employment opportunities in America, but did not do so, and because of the uncertain realization of the rewards, not because of the upfront costs of pursuing them. In general, the minority of Europeans willing and able to countenance the risks of migration, especially the risk of becoming jobless in an American economic slump, and to arrange, through kinship chains, for dependent family members to follow them, were the ones who emigrated. Strategies of passenger shipping firms were also dominated by risk management (not fare reductions, cost minimization, or short-term profit maximization). Government migration policies emphasized cautionary concerns as well, particularly the practical challenges of crowd management. These various strategies for coping with the risks of mass migration overlapped more than they conflicted with each other. Interwoven strategies for managing the risks of early twentieth century transatlantic migration help account for the broad complexity of that human relocation, and to reveal the underlying motivations and processes of modern long-distance migration more generally. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic University of California: eScholarship |
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migration chain migration immigration policy transportation shipping ocean travel risk managment demographic change labor markets globalization Atlantic Basin |
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migration chain migration immigration policy transportation shipping ocean travel risk managment demographic change labor markets globalization Atlantic Basin Keeling, Drew The Economics of Migrant Transport between Europe and the United States, 1900-1914 |
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migration chain migration immigration policy transportation shipping ocean travel risk managment demographic change labor markets globalization Atlantic Basin |
description |
Early twentieth century migration across the North Atlantic was a human drama, a major international demographic shift, and a massive historical experiment in ethnic transformation during a period of unprecedented globalization. It was also a far-reaching multinational business containing both risks and rewards for its three fundamental participants: the movers, the moved, and the sovereign authorities on either side of the borders being traversed. Prior studies have not adequately explained this business or appreciated its significance. Most young, single, healthy, and unskilled lower-to-middle income males living in emigration-prone regions of Europe in the early 1900s could legally and readily access relatively attractive employment opportunities in America, but did not do so, and because of the uncertain realization of the rewards, not because of the upfront costs of pursuing them. In general, the minority of Europeans willing and able to countenance the risks of migration, especially the risk of becoming jobless in an American economic slump, and to arrange, through kinship chains, for dependent family members to follow them, were the ones who emigrated. Strategies of passenger shipping firms were also dominated by risk management (not fare reductions, cost minimization, or short-term profit maximization). Government migration policies emphasized cautionary concerns as well, particularly the practical challenges of crowd management. These various strategies for coping with the risks of mass migration overlapped more than they conflicted with each other. Interwoven strategies for managing the risks of early twentieth century transatlantic migration help account for the broad complexity of that human relocation, and to reveal the underlying motivations and processes of modern long-distance migration more generally. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Keeling, Drew |
author_facet |
Keeling, Drew |
author_sort |
Keeling, Drew |
title |
The Economics of Migrant Transport between Europe and the United States, 1900-1914 |
title_short |
The Economics of Migrant Transport between Europe and the United States, 1900-1914 |
title_full |
The Economics of Migrant Transport between Europe and the United States, 1900-1914 |
title_fullStr |
The Economics of Migrant Transport between Europe and the United States, 1900-1914 |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Economics of Migrant Transport between Europe and the United States, 1900-1914 |
title_sort |
economics of migrant transport between europe and the united states, 1900-1914 |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2005 |
url |
http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/24374543 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Keeling, Drew. (2005). The Economics of Migrant Transport between Europe and the United States, 1900-1914. UC World History Workshop. UC Berkeley: UC World History Workshop. Retrieved from: http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/24374543 |
op_relation |
qt24374543 http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/24374543 |
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public |
_version_ |
1766134845195419648 |