%I American Economic Association
%J The American Economic Review
%L discovery10086419
%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.
%O This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
%T Forced Migration and Human Capital: Evidence from Post-WWII Population Transfers
%A N Voigtlaender
%A S Becker
%A I Grosfeld
%A P Grosjean
%A E Zhuravskaya
%V 110
%N 5
%P 1430-1463
%D 2020