Persecution and Escape: Professional Networks and High-Skilled Emigration from Nazi Germany

Arbeitspapier

We study the role of professional networks in facilitating the escape of persecuted academics from Nazi Germany. From 1933, the Nazi regime started to dismiss academics of Jewish origin from their positions. The timing of dismissals created individual-level exogenous variation in the timing of emigration from Nazi Germany, allowing us to estimate the causal effect of networks for emigration decisions. Academics with ties to more colleagues who had emigrated in 1933 or 1934 (early émigrés) were more likely to emigrate. The early émigrés functioned as “bridging nodes” that helped other academics cross over to their destination. Furthermore, we provide some of the first empirical evidence of decay in social ties over time. The strength of ties also decays across space, even within cities. Finally, for high-skilled migrants, professional networks are more important than community networks.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: CESifo Working Paper ; No. 8916

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Education and Research Institutions: General ; Higher Education; Research Institutions ; Education: Government Policy ; Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination ; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity ; Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: General, International, or Comparative ; Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: Europe: 1913- ; Economic History: Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation: General, International, or Comparative ; Economic History: Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation: Europe: 1913-
• Subject: professional networks ; high-skilled emigration ; Nazi Germany ; Jewish academics ; universities

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Becker, Sascha O. ; Lindenthal, Volker ; Mukand, Sharun ; Waldinger, Fabian
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute (CESifo)
• (where): Munich
• (when): 2021

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/235286
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET