Japanese-Americans interned in 1942: Increased mobility due to re-optimization of occupation and location choices, possibly facilitated by camps’ high economic diversity

Displacement, Diversity, and Mobility: Career Impacts of Japanese American Internment. Jaime Arellano-Bover. The Journal of Economic History, Volume 82, Issue 1, March 2022, pp. 126 - 174. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022050721000565

Abstract: In 1942 more than 110,000 persons of Japanese origin living on the U.S. West Coast were forcibly sent away to ten internment camps for one to three years. This paper studies how internees’ careers were affected in the long run. Combining Census data, camp records, and survey data, I develop a predictor of a person’s internment status based on Census observables. Using a difference-in-differences framework, I find that internment had long-run positive effects on earnings. The evidence is consistent with mechanisms related to increased mobility due to re-optimization of occupation and location choices, possibly facilitated by camps’ high economic diversity.