Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/245618 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 14567
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Ethnic religious organizations are often blamed for slowing down immigrants' assimilation in host societies. This paper offers the first systematic evidence on this topic by focusing on Italian Catholic churches in the US between 1890 and 1920, when four million Italians had moved to America, and anti-Catholic sentiments were widespread. Relying on newly collected data on the presence of Italian Catholic churches across counties over time, we implement a difference-in-differences design. We find that Italian churches reduced the social assimilation of Italian immigrants, lowering intermarriage, residential integration, and naturalization rates. We provide evidence that both stronger coordination within the Italian community and negative stereotyping among natives can explain these effects. Yet, Italian churches had ambiguous effects on immigrants' economic outcomes, and increased literacy and ability to speak English among Italian children.
Subjects: 
immigration
assimilation
religious organizations
JEL: 
J15
N31
Z12
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
17.92 MB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.