TY - JOUR N1 - This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher?s terms and conditions. VL - 110 SP - 1430 JF - The American Economic Review PB - American Economic Association A1 - Voigtlaender, N A1 - Becker, S A1 - Grosfeld, I A1 - Grosjean, P A1 - Zhuravskaya, E TI - Forced Migration and Human Capital: Evidence from Post-WWII Population Transfers Y1 - 2020/05// AV - public IS - 5 N2 - 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. ID - discovery10086419 UR - https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.20181518 EP - 1463 ER -