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After the Famine: Emigration from Ireland, 1850–1913

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2009

Timothy J. Hatton  and
Jeffrey G. Williamson
Timothy J. Hatton
Affiliation:
Reader in Economics at the University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, C04 3SQ, England.
Jeffrey G. Williamson
Affiliation:
Laird Bell Professor of Economics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138.
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Abstract

This article examines the determinants of emigration from post-Famine Ireland. As Irish real wages rose relative to those in destination countries, the emigration rate fell. We argue, from time series analysis, that much of the secular fall in the rate can be explained by that narrowing of the wage gap. County-level, cross-sectional analysis of emigration rates indicates that poverty and low wages, large family size, and limited opportunities to acquire smallholdings all contributed to high rates of emigration. Changes in those variables over time reflect the rise in living standards, consistent with time series evidence.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 53 , Issue 3 , September 1993 , pp. 575 - 600
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 1993

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