Research

Books

Streets of Gold: America’s Untold Story of Immigrant Success
(with Leah Boustan)
The New Yorker, Best Books of 2022; Forbes, Best Business Books of 2022; Behavioral Scientist, Notable Books of 2022
PublicAffairs (May 2022)

The Mystery of the Kibbutz: Egalitarian principles in a capitalist world
Princeton University Press (February 2018)
Winner of the Ranki Biennial Prize for the best book in European Economic History in 2018/2019 (awarded by the Economic History Association), and the Ephraim Kleiman Prize for best book in Economic History in 2021-2022 (awarded by the Israeli Economic History Association).
Hebrew translation: Magnes Press (2022)
Book lecture (Hebrew)

Published Papers

Persecution and Migrant Self-Selection: Evidence from the Collapse of the Communist Bloc
(with Travis Baseler and Isabelle Sin)
Review of Economics and Statiatics (forthcoming)
Online Appendix

Law-Abiding Immigrants: The Incarceration Gap Between Immigrants and the US-born, 1870-2020
(with Leah Boustan, Elisa Jacome, and Santiago Perez, Juan David Torres)
American Economic Review: Insights (forthcoming)

Leaving the Enclave: Historical evidence on immigrant mobility from the Industrial Removal Office
(with Leah Boustan and Dylan Connor)
Journal of Economic History, 84:2, June 2024
Online appendix

To Each According to Their Space-Need: Communes in Outer Space
(with Kelly L. Weinersmith, Zach A. Weinersmith, and John Lehr)
Space Policy, 67, February 2024

The Effect of Changes in the Skill Premium on College Degree Attainment and the Choice of Major
(with Victor Lavy and Maayan Segev)
Journal of Labor Economics, 42:1, January 2024
Online Appendix

The Refugee Advantage: English-Language Attainment in the Early Twentieth Century
(with Leah Boustan, Peter Catron, Dylan Connor, and Rob Voigt)
Sociological Science, November 2023

The Effect of Immigration Restrictions on Local Labor Markets: Lessons from the 1920s Border Closure
(with Philipp Ager, Leah Boustan, Elior Cohen, and Casper Worm Hansen)
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, January 2023

Computational analysis of 140 years of US political speeches reveals more positive but increasingly polarized framing of immigration
(with Chris Becker, Leah Boustan, Serina Chang, Dallas Card, Dan Jurafsky, Julia Mendelsohn, Rob Voight)
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, July 2022

Automated Linking of Historical Data
(with Leah Boustan, Katherine Eriksson, James Feigenbaum, Santiago Perez)
Journal of Economic Literature, 59:3, pp. 865-918, September 2021
Online appendix

The Long-Term Spillover Effects of Changes in the Return to Schooling
(with Victor Lavy and Santiago Perez)
Journal of Public Economics, April 2021
Online appendix

Intergenerational Mobility of Immigrants in the US over Two Centuries
(with Leah Boustan, Santiago Perez, and Elisa Jacome)
American Economic Review, 111:2, 580-608, February 2021
Online appendix | replication codes

Were Jews in Interwar Poland More Educated
(with Hanna Halaburda)
Journal of Demographic Economics, 291-304, September 2020

Discrimination and the Returns to Cultural Assimilation in the Age of Mass Migration
(with Leah Boustan, Katherine Eriksson and Stephanie Hao)
AEA Papers and Proceedings, 110, 340-346, May 2020

Do Immigrants Assimilate More Slowly Today Than in the Past?
Online Appendix | replication codes
(with Leah Boustan and Katherine Eriksson)
American Economic Review: Insights, 2:1, 125-141, March 2020
(previously titled "Cultural Assimilation during Two Ages of Mass Migration")

Linking Individuals Across Historical Sources: a Fully Automated Approach
(with Roy Mill and Santiago Perez)
Historical Methods, 94-111, April 2019
replication codes
Stata Command

To the New World and Back Again: Return Migrants in the Age of Mass Migration
(with Leah Boustan and Katherine Eriksson)
Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 72:2, 300-322, March 2019
replication codes

Immigration in American History
(with Leah Boustan)
Journal of Economic Literature, 55:4, December 2017

Economics and the Modern Economic Historian (long version)
Journal of Economic History 75:4, 1240-1251, December 2015

Book Translations as Idea Flows: The Effects of the Collapse of Communism on the Diffusion of Knowledge
(with Isabelle Sin)
Journal of European Economic Association 12:6, 1453-1520, December 2014

How Responsive is Investment in Schooling to Changes in Redistributive Policies and in Returns?
(with Victor Lavy)
Econometrica, 82:4, 1241-1272, July 2014
Online Appendix

A Nation of Immigrants: Assimilation and Economic Outcomes in the Age of Mass Migration
(with Leah Boustan and Katherine Eriksson)
Journal of Political Economy, 122:3, 467-717, June 2014 (lead article)
Online Appendix | replication codes

Have the poor always been less likely to migrate? Evidence from inheritance practices during the Age of Mass Migration
(with Leah Boustan and Katherine Eriksson)
Journal of Development Economics, 102, 2-14, May 2013
replication codes

Europe’s Tired, Poor, Huddled Masses: Self-Selection and Economic Outcomes in the Age of Mass Migration
(with Leah Boustan and Katherine Eriksson)
American Economic Review, 102:5, 1832-1856, August 2012
Online Appendix | replication codes

On the Optimality of Line Call Challenges in Professional Tennis
(with Liran Einav, Shimon Kolkowitz, and Roy Mill)
International Economic Review, 53:3, 939-964, August 2012
Data and replication codes

Marrying Up: the Role of Sex Ratio in Assortative Matching
(with Adeline Delavande and Luis Vasconcelos)
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 3:3, 124-157, July 2011

Lessons from the Kibbutz on the Equality-Incentives Trade-Off
Journal of Economic Perspectives, 25:1, 185-208, Winter 2011

On the (lack of) Stability of Communes: An Economic Perspective
Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Religion (Edited by Rachel McCleary), Oxford University Press, Chapter 9, 169-189, 2011
Online appendix

Risk, Incentives and Contracts: Partnerships in Rio De Janeiro, 1870-1891
(with Zephyr Frank and Aprajit Mahajan)
Journal of Economic History, 70:3, 686-715, September 2010

Is Hanukkah Responsive to Christmas?
(with Liran Einav and Oren Rigbi)
Economic Journal, 120, 612-630, June 2010

The Effect of Redistribution on Migration: Evidence from the Israeli Kibbutz
Journal of Public Economics, 93, 498-511, April 2009
Previously circulated as “Testing Self-Selection in Migration: Evidence from the Israeli Kibbutz”.

The Limits of Equality: Insights from the Israeli Kibbutz
Quarterly Journal of Economics, 123:3, 1111-1159, August 2008
Replication code plus updating to post-publication reforms

The Limits of Equality: an Economic Analysis of the Israeli Kibbutz
Journal of Economic History, 67(2), 495-499, May 2007 [dissertation summary]
Comments by Carol Shiue, the convener of the Alexander Gerschenkron Prize Panel

Migration and Human Capital: Self-Selection of Indentured Servants to the Americas
(with Fabio Braggion)
Journal of Economic History, 66(4), 882-905, December 2006

Working Papers

Can an Economic Crisis Shift Attitudes from Socialism to Capitalism? Evidence from a Quasi Natural Experiment
(with Netanel Ben Porath, Victor Lavy, and Michal Palgi)

The Gendered Impacts of Perceived Skin Tone: Evidence from African-American Siblings in 1870–1940
(with Jacob Conway, Roy Mill, and Luke Stein)

Finding John Smith: Using Extra Information for Historical Record Linkage
(with Leah Boustan, Harriet Brookes Gray, Katherine Eriksson, Santiago Pérez, and Myera Rashid)

Intergenerational Mobility over Two Centuries
(with Leah Boustan and Tamar Matiashvili)

Socioeconomic Origins of the US Educational Elite: 1915-2013
(with Jenna Kowalski, Santiago Perez, and Joe Price)

College Dynasties
(with Jenna Kowalski, Santiago Perez, and Joe Price)