Social Science Quarterly
Volume 80, Issue 4, 1999, Pages 666-686
The collective impact of southern migrants on the economic well-being of northern-born black males, 1970 (Article)
Tolnay S.E.* ,
Vesselinov E. ,
Crowder K.D.
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a
Department of Sociology, University at Albany-SUNY, Albany, NY 12222, United States
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b
[Affiliation not available]
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c
[Affiliation not available]
Abstract
Objective. African American migrants from the South have long been blamed for many social problems that emerged in northern cities during the second half of the twentieth century. While recent research shows that migrants actually compared favorably with non-migrants on such characteristics as labor force participation, employment, income, and family stability, little effort has been expended to assess the more "macro" effects of migrants on the well-being of the indigenous northern black population. In this paper we investigate the possibility that northern-born black males were less likely to be employed and had lower wages in cities with proportionately larger southern-born populations in 1970. Methods. A multilevel analysis is conducted using individual-level data for 1970 from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series and data for metropolitan statistical areas from the Summary Statistic File 4C (Fourth Count) for 1970. Results. We find that percentage southern-born in an urban area is negatively related to black male employment, but that the relationship disappears when controls are introduced. Southern-origin concentration in an urban area is not related to annual income from salary and wages for black males. Conclusions. We conclude that the evidence from our analyses raises serious doubt about a negative "collective" impact of southern migrants on the economic well-being of the indigenous northern black population.
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Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-0033481133&partnerID=40&md5=f389589b0a5f923b1646513c72a4d06a
ISSN: 00384941
Cited by: 5
Original Language: English