American Economic Journal:
Macroeconomics
ISSN 1945-7707 (Print) | ISSN 1945-7715 (Online)
Immigrant Communities and Knowledge Spillovers: Danish Americans and the Development of the Dairy Industry in the United States
American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics
(pp. 102–46)
(Complimentary)
Abstract
Despite the growing literature on the impact of immigration, little is known about the role existing migrant settlements can play for knowledge transmission and the location of industry. We present a case that can illustrate this important mechanism and hypothesize that nineteenth-century Danish American communities helped spread knowledge on modern dairying to rural America. From around 1880 Denmark developed rapidly, and by 1890 it was a world-leading dairy producer. Using a difference-in-differences strategy and data taken from the US census and Danish emigration archives, we find that counties with more Danes in 1880 subsequently both specialized in dairying and used more modern practices.Citation
Boberg-Fazlić, Nina, and Paul Sharp. 2024. "Immigrant Communities and Knowledge Spillovers: Danish Americans and the Development of the Dairy Industry in the United States." American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics 16 (1): 102–46. DOI: 10.1257/mac.20210074Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- J61 Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
- L66 Food; Beverages; Cosmetics; Tobacco; Wine and Spirits
- N31 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
- N51 Economic History: Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment, and Extractive Industries: U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
- O33 Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
- Q12 Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets