Ph.D. Economics
Harvard University, 2006
Leah P. Boustan is a Professor of Economics at Princeton University, where she is also a faculty associate of the Industrial Relations Section. Her research lies at the intersection between economic history and labor economics. Her book, Competition in the Promised Land: Black Migrants in Northern Cities and Labor Markets (Princeton University Press, 2016) examines the effect of the Great Black Migration from the rural south during and after World War II. Her recent work has been on the mass migration from Europe to the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Professor Boustan is co-director of the Development of the American Economy Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research. She also serves as co-editor at the Journal of Urban Economics and on the editorial board of the American Economic Review and the Journal of Economic Perspectives. Professor Boustan was named an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow in 2012 and was a Research Fellow at the Straus Institute at the NYU School of Law in 2013.
Abramitzky, R., Boustan, L. P., & Connor, D. (2020). Leaving the enclave: Historical evidence on immigrant mobility from the industrial removal office
( No. 27372).National Bureau of Economic Research. doi:DOI 10.3386/w27372
Abramitzky, R., Boustan, L., & Eriksson, K. (2020). Do immigrants assimilate more slowly today than in the past? American Economic Review: Insights, 2(1), 125. doi:DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20190079
Abramitzky, R., Boustan, L., Eriksson, K., & Hao, S. (2020). Discrimination and the returns to cultural assimilation in the age of mass migration. American Economic Association Papers and Proceedings, 110, 340. doi:DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20201090
Boustan, L. P., Kahn, M. E., Rhode, P. W., & Yanguas, M. L. (2020). The effect of natural disasters on economic activity in US counties: A century of data. Journal of Urban Economics, 1118 doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jue.2020.103257
Abramitzky, R., Ager, P., Boustan, L. P., Cohen, E., & Hansen, C. W. (2019). The effects of immigration on the economy: Lessons from the 1920s border closure
. ( No. 26536).National Bureau of Economic Research. doi:DOI 10.3386/w26536
Abramitzky, R., Boustan, L. P., & Eriksson, K. (2019). Replication data for: Europe's tired, poor, huddled masses: Self-selection and economic outcomes in the age of mass migration. Openicpsr, doi:https://www.openicpsr.org/openicpsr/project/112540/version/V1/view
Project
Abramitzky, R., Boustan, L. P., Eriksson, K., Feigenbaum, J. J., & Pérez, S. (2019). Automated linking of historical data
. ( No. 25825).National Bureau of Economic Research. doi:DOI 10.3386/w25825
Abramitzky, R., Boustan, L. P., Jácome, E., & Pérez, S. (2019). Intergenerational mobility of immigrants in the US over two centuries
. ( No. 26408).National Bureau of Economic Research. doi:DOI 10.3386/w26408
Abramitzky, R., Boustan, L., & Eriksson, K. (2019). To the new world and back again: Return migrants in the age of mass migration. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 72(2), 300. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/0019793917726981
Ager, P., Boustan, L. P., & Eriksson, K. (2019). The intergenerational effects of a large wealth shock: White southerners after the civil war
. ( No. 25700).National Bureau of Economic Research. doi:DOI 10.3386/w25700
Boustan, L. P. (2019). Replication data for: School desegregation and urban change: Evidence from city boundaries. Openicpsr, doi:https://www.openicpsr.org/openicpsr/project/113813/version/V1/view
Project
Boustan, L. P., Margo, R. A., Miller, M. M., Reeves, J. M., & Steil, J. P. (2019). Does condominium development lead to gentrification?
. ( No. 26170).National Bureau of Economic Research. doi:DOI 10.3386/w26170
Abramitzky, R., & Boustan, L. (2017). Immigration in american economic history. Journal of Economic Literature, 55(4), 1311. doi:DOI: 10.1257/jel.20151189
Abramitzky, R., Boustan, L. P., & Eriksson, K. (2016). Cultural assimilation during the age of mass migration
. ( No. 22381).National Bureau of Economic Research. doi:https://www.nber.org/papers/w22381
Ager, P., Boustan, L. P., & Eriksson, K. (2016). Inter-generational transmission of wealth shocks: Evidence from the US civil war. (). doi:https://www.eh.net/eha/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/AgerBoustanEriksson.pdf
Boustan, L. P. (2016). Competition in the promised land: Black migrants in northern cities and labor markets. . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Boustan, L. P. (2015). The great black migration: Opportunity and competition in northern labor markets
. Focus, 32(1), 24. doi:https://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/focus/pdfs/foc321e.pdf
Abramitzky, R., Boustan, L. P., & Eriksson, K. (2014). A nation of immigrants: Assimilation and economic outcomes in the age of mass migration. The Journal of Political Economy, 122(3), 467. doi:https://doi.org/10.1086/675805
PMCID4655828
Bailey, M. J., Guldi, M., Hershbein, B. J., Boustan, L. P., Frydman, C., & Margo, R. A. (2014). Human capital and history: The american record. ().National Bureau of Economic Research. doi:http://www2.nber.org/conferences/2012/HCHf12/summary.html
Boustan, L. P., & Collins, W. J. (2014). The origin and persistence of black-white differences in women's labor force participation. In L. P. Boustan, C. Frydman & R. A. Margo (Eds.), Human capital in history: The american record (pp. 205). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. doi:DOI 10.7208/chicago/9780226163925.003.0007
Boustan, L. P., Frydman, C., & Margo, R. (2014). Introduction to "human capital in history: The american record". In L. P. Boustan, C. Frydman & R. Margo (Eds.), Human capital in history: The american record (pp. 1). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Abramitzky, R., Boustan, L. P., & Eriksson, K. (2013). Have the poor always been less likely to migrate? evidence from inheritance practices during the age of mass migration. Journal of Development Economics, 102, 2. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2012.08.004
PMCID4655887
Boustan, L. P. (2013). Racial residential segregation in American cities
. ().National Bureau of Economic Research. doi:https://www.nber.org/papers/w19045
Working Paper 19045
Boustan, L. P. (2013). Local public goods and the demand for high-income municipalities. Journal of Urban Economics, 76, 71. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jue.2013.02.003
Boustan, L. P., Bunten, D. M., & Hearey, O. (2013). Urbanization in the united states, 1800-2000
. ( No. 19041).National Bureau of Economic Research. doi:DOI 10.3386/w19041
Abramitzky, R., Boustan, L. P., & Eriksson, K. (2012). Europe's tired, poor, huddled masses: Self-selection and economic outcomes in the age of mass migration. The American Economic Review, 102(5), 1832. doi:https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.102.5.1832
PMCID4651453
Boustan, L. P. (2012). School desegregation and urban change: Evidence from city boundaries. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 4(1), 85. doi:https://doi.org/10.1257/app.4.1.85
PMCID3915511
Boustan, L. P., Kahn, M. E., & Rhode, P. W. (2012). COPING WITH ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL SHOCKS: INSTITUTIONS AND OUTCOMES: Moving to higher ground: Migration response to natural disasters in the early twentieth century. The American Economic Review, 102(3), 238. doi:https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.102.3.238
PMCID41108261
Boustan, L. P., Kahn, M. E., & Rhode, P. W. (2012). Moving to higher ground: Migration response to natural disasters in the early twentieth century. The American Economic Review, 102(3), 238. doi:https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.102.3.238
Boustan, L. P., & Margo, R. A. (2011). White suburbanization and African American home ownership, 1940-1980
. ( No. 16702).National Bureau of Economic Research. doi:DOI 10.3386/w16702
Boustan, L. P. (2010). Was postwar suburbanization “white flight”? evidence from the black migration. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 125(1), 417. doi:https://doi.org/10.1162/qjec.2010.125.1.417
Boustan, L. P., Ferreira, F., Winkler, H., & Zolt, E. (2010). Income inequality and local government in the united states, 1970-2000
. ( No. 16299).National Bureau of Economic Research. doi:DOI 10.3386/w16299
Boustan, L. P., Fishback, P. V., & Kantor, S. (2010). The effect of internal migration on local labor markets: American cities during the great depression. Journal of Labor Economics, 28(4), 719. doi:https://doi.org/10.1086/653488
Boustan, L. P., & Shertzer, A. (2010). Demography and population loss from central cities, 1950-2000
. ( No. 16435).National Bureau of Economic Research. doi:DOI 10.3386/w16435
Boustan, L. P., & Margo, R. A. (2009). Race, segregation, and postal employment: New evidence on spatial mismatch. Journal of Urban Economics, 65(1), 1. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jue.2008.08.002
Boustan, L. P., Margo, R. A., Glaeser, E., & Madden, J. F. (2009). Job decentralization and residential location. ().Brookings-Wharton Papers on Urban Affairs. doi:https://www.jstor.org/stable/25609558
Boustan, L. P. (2007). Were jews political refugees or economic migrants? assessing the persecution theory of jewish emigration, 1881–1914. In T. J. Hatton, K. H. O'Rourke & A. M. Taylor (Eds.), The new comparative economic history: Essays in honor of jeffrey G. williamson (pp. 267)
Book Chapter 11
Boustan, L. P. (2007). Black migration, white flight: The effect of black migration on northern cities and labor markets. The Journal of Economic History, 67(2), 484. doi:https://www.jstor.org/stable/4501161
Boustan, L. P. (2007). Escape from the city? the role of race, income, and local public goods in post-war suburbanization
. ( No. 13311).National Bureau of Economic Research. doi:DOI 10.3386/w13311
Boustan, L. P. (2007). Flight from the city: The role of suburban political autonomy and public goods
. ().Department of Economics, UCLA. doi:https://eml.berkeley.edu/~webfac/cromer/e211_sp07/boustan.pdf
Boustan, L. P., & Margo, R. A. (2007). Going postal: What black employment in the postal service reveals about the increasing cost of racial segregation, 1940-2000
. (). doi:http://www2.nber.org/conferences/2007/si2007/LS/margo.pdf
Boustan, L. P. (2006). Inside the black box of ‘White flight’: The role of suburban political autonomy and public goods. ().Harvard University Department of Economics Working Paper. doi:http://www.econ.ucla.edu/people/papers/Boustan/Boustan382.pdf
Boustan, L. P. (2005). In Foner N., Fredrickson G. M. (Eds.), Not just black and white: Historical and contemporary perspectives on immigration, race, and ethnicity in the united states. edited by nancy foner and george M. fredrickson. new york: Russell sage foundation, 2004. pp. ix, 390. $45.00. the journal of economic history, 65(2), 583-585. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.