%0 Journal Article
%A Voigtlaender, N
%A Becker, S
%A Grosfeld, I
%A Grosjean, P
%A Zhuravskaya, E
%D 2020
%F discovery:10086419
%I American Economic Association
%J The American Economic Review
%N 5
%P 1430-1463
%T Forced Migration and Human Capital: Evidence from Post-WWII Population Transfers
%U https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10086419/
%V 110
%X We study the long-run effects of forced migration on investment in education. After World War II, millions of Poles were forcibly uprooted from the Kresy territories of eastern Poland and resettled ( primarily) in the newly acquired Western Territories, from which the Germans were expelled. We combine historical censuses with newly collected survey data to show that, while there were no pre-WWII differences in educational attainment, Poles with a family history of forced migration are significantly more educated today than other Poles. These results are driven by a shift in preferences away from material possessions toward investment in human capital.
%Z This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.