ARTICLES

Materfamilias: the association of mother’s work on children’s absolute income mobility, Southern Sweden (1947–2015)

Gabriel Brea-Martinez

Pages 1–23

https://doi.org/10.1093/ereh/heac010

This article examines the association of mothers’ income with children’s economic mobility in a period of increased women’s labor market participation in Sweden. I found that whether a mother was economically independent and had an income similar to that of the father during her children’s late childhood and adolescence positively associated with upward mobility. The results show a substantial association of mother’s income position to their daughters’ mobility, but not for sons’. Among the primary mechanisms, I argue that extra resources from mothers helped human capital investment through education and that mothers influenced daughters by a gendered role model.

From Sweden to America: migrant selection in the transatlantic migration, 1890–1910

Martin Dribe and others

Pages 24–44

https://doi.org/10.1093/ereh/heac007

We examine selection by class origin and gender in the emigration from Sweden to the United States during the age of mass migration. We use full-count census data linked to emigration lists to create a panel of over one million men and women. Class selection was similar for men and women, with children from medium-skilled backgrounds being most likely to leave. Selection on class origin was most pronounced in poorer and less industrialized regions, but similar in rural and urban areas. These patterns suggest that not only returns to skill determined migrant selection but also class-specific costs of migration.

Smooth sailing: market integration, agglomeration, and productivity growth in interwar Brazil

Marc Badia-Miró and others

Pages 45–69

https://doi.org/10.1093/ereh/heac005

Leveraging an original dataset on coastal shipping and invoking a new economic geography framework, we study the effects of domestic and international trade costs on industrial concentration and productivity growth in interwar Brazil. In the great wave of globalization before 1914, international trade costs were low and domestic costs high. Economic activity was dispersed along the coastline. The interwar period saw a reversal: international costs surged and domestic costs declined. Economic activity was increasingly concentrated in São Paulo. Agglomeration economies enabled productivity growth in the 1930s, mostly in durable and capital goods.

Local multipliers and the growth of services: evidence from late nineteenth century USA, Great Britain, and Sweden

Vinzent Ostermeyer

Pages 70–90

https://doi.org/10.1093/ereh/heac004

In the shadow of industry, the service sector substantially expanded during the late nineteenth century. This paper analyzes how the creation of industrial employment contributed to this growth of services. I leverage full-count census data from the United States, Great Britain, and Sweden to estimate local employment multipliers. I show that industrial growth was a key driver in the emergence of services. Each new industrial job created up to one additional local service job. This effect was driven by the high-skilled industrial sector where each additional job created up to two service jobs. Multiplier effects created jobs across different services.

Terms of trade during the first globalization: new evidence, new results

David Chilosi and others

Pages 91–122

https://doi.org/10.1093/ereh/heac012

In the shadow of industry, the service sector substantially expanded during the late nineteenth century. This paper analyzes how the creation of industrial employment contributed to this growth of services. I leverage full-count census data from the United States, Great Britain, and Sweden to estimate local employment multipliers. I show that industrial growth was a key driver in the emergence of services. Each new industrial job created up to one additional local service job. This effect was driven by the high-skilled industrial sector where each additional job created up to two service jobs. Multiplier effects created jobs across different services.

Foreign investments and tariff protection revisited: correcting the trade balance of the Russian Empire, 1880–1913

Marina Chuchko

Pages 123–147

https://doi.org/10.1093/ereh/heac009

This article examines the accuracy of Russian foreign trade statistics between 1880 and 1913 and provides empirical evidence that prior to the introduction of the gold standard in 1897, Russia’s trade surplus was systematically understated. My novel trade data suggest a higher degree of protectionism with an increase of an ad valorem equivalent tariff up to 4 percentage points. Moreover, my corrections of the current account balance reduce the annual average deficit of the balance for 1885–1897 by 67 percent, supporting the idea that there was a substantial increase of foreign investments in the post-gold standard period in Russia.