Essays on the historical socio-economic integration of immigrants in the United States

This dissertation studies how economic and social environments shape the integration of immigrants. It focuses on three forces: technological change, within-group dynamics, and economic shocks. Each chapter examines how these forces affect immigrant behavior and interaction with others. The analysis uses historical data from the United States during the Age of Mass Migration and the early twentieth century. The first chapter studies how technological change affects social cohesion. It examines the expansion of electrification between 1900 and 1940. Electrification changed how factories organized production. I combine new data on the electric grid with full-count census data. I exploit the staggered rollout of electrification across counties. I find that electrification increased the share of immigrant workers and raised ethnic diversity in manufacturing. It also reduced ethnic segregation across occupations. These effects extend beyond the workplace. Electrification lowered residential segregation and weakened the negative relationship between immigrant presence and local public service provision. These results show that changes in production can promote integration. The second chapter studies how interactions within ethnic groups shape assimilation. It focuses on Jewish migration to the United States. I develop a new method to identify Jewish individuals in census data. I then exploit variation from relocation programs that distributed immigrants across locations. I find that the arrival of new immigrants reduced cultural assimilation. Newcomers were more likely to use distinctively Jewish names, and intermarriage declined. At the same time, communities expanded religious and charitable institutions. These results show that within-group dynamics can both slow assimilation and strengthen communal organization. The third chapter studies how immigrants respond to economic shocks. It examines the onset of the Great Depression using linked census data from 1920 and 1930. I compare immigrants to similar native-born individuals. I find that immigrants were more responsive to the shock. They were more likely to move, change jobs, and enter lower-ranked occupations. Responses are strongest among recent immigrants. These results show that immigrants help adjust labor markets but bear higher costs. Overall, the dissertation shows that immigrant integration depends on economic and social context.