Southern (American) Hospitality: Italians in Argentina and the United States During the Age of Mass Migration

Abstract

Abstract Argentina and the United States were the principal destinations for Italian immigrants during the Age of Mass Migration. I assemble data following Italians from passenger lists to censuses in Argentina and the United States, enabling me to compare the economic outcomes of migrants with similar pre-migration characteristics but who moved to different countries. Italians assimilated faster in Argentina, and this advantage was unlikely to be due to selection. A higher human capital relative to natives and the Italian-Spanish similarity largely explain Italians’ advantage in Argentina. These findings highlight the importance of the fit between migrants’ characteristics and those of the receiving country.