Persecution and Escape

Becker, Sascha O.; Lindenthal, Volker; Mukand, Sharun und Waldinger, Fabian (23. Januar 2023): Persecution and Escape. Professional Networks and High-Skilled Emigration from Nazi Germany. Collaborative Research Center Transregio 190, Discussion Paper No. 370

Abstract

We study the role of professional networks in facilitating emigration of Jewish academics dismissed from their positions by the Nazi government. We use individual-level exogenous variation in the timing of dismissals to estimate causal effects. Academics with more ties to early émigrés (emigrated 1933-1934) were more likely to emigrate. Early émigrés functioned as "bridging nodes" that facilitated emigration to their own destination. We also provide evidence of decay in social ties over time and show that professional networks transmit information that is not publicly observable. Finally, we study the relative importance of three types (family, community, professional) of social networks.

• Dokumententyp: Paper
• Keywords: professional networks; high-skilled emigration; Nazi Germany; Jewish academics; universities
• Fakultät: Volkswirtschaft > Collaborative Research Center Transregio "Rationality and Competition"
• Themengebiete: 300 Sozialwissenschaften > 330 Wirtschaft
• JEL Classification: I20, I23, I28, J15, J24, N30, N34, N40, N44
• Sprache: Englisch