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Immigrant Communities and Knowledge Spillovers: Danish-Americans and the Development of the Dairy Industry in the United States

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  • Boberg-Fazlić, Nina
  • Sharp, Paul
Abstract
Despite the growing literature on the impact of immigration, little is known about the role existing migrant settlements can play for knowledge transmission. We present a case which can illustrate this important mechanism and hypothesize that nineteenth century Danish-American communities helped spread knowledge on modern dairying to rural America. From around 1880, Denmark developed rapidly and by 1890 it was a world-leading dairy producer. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, and data taken from the US census and Danish emigration archives, we find that counties with more Danes in 1880 subsequently both specialized in dairying and used more modern practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Boberg-Fazlić, Nina & Sharp, Paul, 2020. "Immigrant Communities and Knowledge Spillovers: Danish-Americans and the Development of the Dairy Industry in the United States," Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University 307181, Center for Growth and Opportunity.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:cgouta:307181
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.307181
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    Cited by:

    1. Sofia Henriques & Eoin McLaughlin & Paul Sharp & Xanthi Tsoukli & Christian Veddel, 2020. "Opening the Black Box of the Danish Dairy Cooperatives: A Productivity Analysis," Working Papers 0203, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    2. Richard Hornbeck & Martin Rotemberg, 2019. "Railroads, Reallocation, and the Rise of American Manufacturing," NBER Working Papers 26594, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Andreas Link, 2023. "The Fall of Constantinople and the Rise of the West," Working Papers 223, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    4. Bentzen, Jeanet & Boberg-Fazlic, Nina & Sharp, Paul & Skovsgaard, Christian & Vedel, Christian, 2023. "Holy Cows and Spilt Milk: The Impact of Religious Conflict on Firm-Level Productivity," CEPR Discussion Papers 18679, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Sinding Bentzen, Jeanet & Boberg-Fazli´c, Nina & Sharp, Paul & Volmar Skovsgaard, Christian & Vedel, Christian, 2024. "Assimilate for God: The Impact of Religious Divisions on Danish American Communities," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 703, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    6. Elena S. Korchmina & Paul Sharp, 2020. "Denmark and Russia: What can we learn from the historical comparison of two great Arctic agricultural empires?," Russian Journal of Economics, ARPHA Platform, vol. 7(2), pages 105-118, July.
    7. Boberg-Fazlić, Nina & Lampe, Markus & Sharp, Paul, 2024. "The sleeping giant who left for America: Danish land inequality and emigration during the age of mass migration," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    8. Nina Boberg-Fazlić & Markus Lampe & Paul Sharp, 2021. "The Sleeping Giant Who Left for America: The Determinants and Impact of Danish Emigration During the Age of Mass Migration," Working Papers 0213, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    9. Paolo Buonanno & Francesco Cinnirella & Elona Harka & Marcello Puca, 2024. "Books Go Public: The Consequences of the Expropriation of Monastic Libraries on Innovation," CESifo Working Paper Series 11015, CESifo.
    10. Link, Andreas, 2023. "The Fall of Constantinople and the Rise of the West," VfS Annual Conference 2023 (Regensburg): Growth and the "sociale Frage" 277619, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    International Development; Industrial Organization;

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • N11 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • N31 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • N51 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • Q16 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - R&D; Agricultural Technology; Biofuels; Agricultural Extension Services

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