{"id":228378,"date":"2017-08-04T13:30:09","date_gmt":"2017-08-04T17:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/?p=228378"},"modified":"2023-11-08T20:59:42","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T01:59:42","slug":"location-of-wwii-internment-camp-linked-to-long-term-economic-inequality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2017\/08\/location-of-wwii-internment-camp-linked-to-long-term-economic-inequality\/","title":{"rendered":"First interned, then left behind"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tNation & World\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t

\n\t\tFirst interned, then left behind\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\tLiz Mineo\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\tHarvard Staff Writer\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tJapanese-Americans sent to camps in poorer areas often failed to thrive economically after their release, study says\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\t\t

Japan\u2019s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 drew the United States into World War II and spawned a massive wave of shock and fear across the country. It also prompted the U.S. government to round up and send more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans to internment camps.<\/p>\n

Scholars have long studied this dark chapter in American history and its denial of basic freedoms, but until recently little was known about the long-term economic effects on the lives of the people who were interned, their businesses, homes, and possessions hastily left behind.<\/p>\n

Harvard economist Daniel Shoag and Nicholas Carollo, a Ph.D. candidate in economics at the University of California, Los Angeles, who wrote the paper<\/a> \u201cThe Causal Effect of Place: Evidence from Japanese-American Internment,\u201d found that the economic consequences of confinement lingered among internees even 50 years later, and varied greatly on where they were placed.<\/p>\n

Between 110,000 and 120,000 Japanese-Americans, 70 percent of them born in the United States, were forced to leave their homes on the West Coast and incarcerated in makeshift camps in desolate areas until after the end of World War II. When the Japanese Exclusion Act was revoked in 1945, the inhabitants were released, but their economic prospects were markedly, and forever, changed.<\/p>\n\r\n\t\n\n\t

\"\"
The economic impact on WWII Japanese-Americans placed in internment camps was felt for generations, notes Harvard Associate Professor of Public Policy Daniel Shoag. <br \/>Stephanie Mitchell\/Harvard Staff Photographer\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\n\t\r\n\n

\u201cInternment is a tragic period in American history,\u201d said Shoag, associate professor of public policy at Harvard\u2019s Kennedy School of Government<\/a>. \u201cThere was some random component to where people were imprisoned, and yet these randomly assigned locations had a big impact on people. It affected the lives of the internees in every single economic outcome you can think of \u2014 income, education, housing, socioeconomic status, all sort of things, and their descendants as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prior to the war, most Japanese-Americans had similar incomes and educational backgrounds, but after they were assigned to 10 camps across seven states \u2014 Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming \u2014 their economic fates changed. All internment camps were prison-like compounds, with barracks, watchtowers, and barbed wires, but some were close to wealthy regions and others to depressed areas.<\/p>\n

The study found that those internees who were sent to richer regions, where the local population earned close to the median income, had better opportunities upon release and did better economically than those who were sent to poorer places. Internees who were sent to wealthier locations earned more and were more likely to complete college and work in higher-status careers. Those who were put in poor, rural areas far away from cultural centers received less education, lived in worse housing, and earned less money.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe long-term impact of being put in a poorer place was large and dramatic,\u201d said Shoag.<\/p>\n\r\n\r\n\n

The economic effects of internment could be measured across generations, the study found, and affected the internees\u2019 children. Their economic outcomes affected the values they held as well: Those from better-off areas tended to be more assimilated into U.S. society, and were more materialistic and optimistic, said researchers, based on survey data from the Japanese-American Research Project (JARP), a three-generation study (1890-1966) directed by the late UCLA sociologist Gene Levine.<\/p>\n

Those sent to poorer areas found it harder to get ahead. Many of them failed to get higher education, and their children\u2019s futures were compromised, said Shoag.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things we look at is what happens when you\u2019re put in a hard place,\u201d he said. \u201cHow much does being randomly put in a place with low mobility affect the cross-generation correlation? We found that the next generations suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Researchers used detailed administrative data from the U.S. government, which helped to track nearly 90 percent of the surviving internees during the process of making restitution payments. With data spanning five decades, researchers were able to measure outcomes for the internees, their children, and their grandchildren. The researchers found that in 1980, nearly 40 years after the Japanese-Americans were first interned and 35 years after they were released, those who had been placed in the poorest camp (Rohwer, in Arkansas) still earned 17 percent less than those placed in the camp in the most affluent region (Heart Mountain, in Wyoming).<\/p>\n

The findings have broad implications for immigrants and refugee settlements. Policymakers and governments officials need to understand the importance of location assignments for the economic futures of immigrants, said Shoag.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important for how we think about people\u2019s placement, from a policy angle,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we have refugees with similar incomes coming in, let\u2019s say some to Boston and others to Flint, well, the ones in Boston are going to make more money and get more education than those in Flint. This is an important consideration not just from an economic point of view, but also from an urban economics model.\u201d<\/p>\n

The research found that many internees chose not to go back to their original homes on the West Coast, both because they feared racial enmity and because of housing shortages. Many wound up remaining in communities near their former internment camps.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople do get stuck,\u201d Shoag said, \u201cand this has consequences for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shoag said government officials should keep in mind the long-term effects of any policy involving placement or relocation when they deal with immigrants or refugees resettlements. The location can help to determine their future.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been discussions about allowing refugees into the country, maybe sending them to depressed parts of the country to bolster population,\u201d he said. \u201cBut when you send a refugee family to a low-income place, that is going to have a huge impact on them, their families, and their future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A paper co-authored by Harvard economist Daniel Shoag found that Japanese-Americans who were sent to internment camps in poorer regions fared worse than those who were sent to richer areas, and the economic disadvantage persisted for generations. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108352576,"featured_media":228432,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"gz_ga_pageviews":228,"gz_ga_lastupdated":"2025-11-11 05:42","document_color_palette":null,"author":"Liz Mineo","affiliation":"Harvard Staff 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behind","subheading":"Japanese-Americans sent to camps in poorer areas often failed to thrive economically after their release, study says","className":"is-style-square","backgroundFixed":false,"backgroundTone":"light","centeredImage":false,"coloredBackground":false,"displayOverlay":true,"fadeInText":false,"isAmbient":false,"mediaHeight":0,"mediaLength":"","mediaPosition":"","mediaWidth":0,"posterText":"","titleAbove":false,"useUncroppedImage":false,"lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"","innerContent":[],"rendered":"<header\n\tclass=\"wp-block-harvard-gazette-article-header alignfull article-header is-style-square has-light-background has-colored-heading\"\n\tstyle=\" \"\n>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"article-header__content\">\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\tclass=\"article-header__category\"\n\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\tNation & World\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t<h1 class=\"article-header__title wp-block-heading \">\n\t\tFirst interned, then left behind\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\n\t<div class=\"article-header__meta\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-post-author\">\n\t\t\t<address class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"author wp-block-post-author__name\">\n\t\tLiz Mineo\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-post-author__byline\">\n\t\t\tHarvard Staff Writer\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<time class=\"article-header__date\" datetime=\"2017-08-04\">\n\t\t\tAugust 4, 2017\t\t<\/time>\n\n\t\t<span class=\"article-header__reading-time\">\n\t\t\t5 min read\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"article-header__subheading wp-block-heading\">\n\t\t\tJapanese-Americans sent to camps in poorer areas often failed to thrive economically after their release, study says\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n"},"2":{"blockName":"core\/group","attrs":{"templateLock":false,"metadata":{"name":"Article content"},"align":"wide","layout":{"type":"constrained","justifyContent":"center"},"tagName":"div","lock":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","ariaLabel":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n\t\t<p>Japan\u2019s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 drew the United States into World War II and spawned a massive wave of shock and fear across the country. It also prompted the U.S. government to round up and send more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans to internment camps.<\/p>\n<p>Scholars have long studied this dark chapter in American history and its denial of basic freedoms, but until recently little was known about the long-term economic effects on the lives of the people who were interned, their businesses, homes, and possessions hastily left behind.<\/p>\n<p>Harvard economist Daniel Shoag and Nicholas Carollo, a Ph.D. candidate in economics at the University of California, Los Angeles, who wrote the <a href=\"http:\/\/economics.huji.ac.il\/sites\/default\/files\/economics\/files\/danny_shoag.pdf\">paper<\/a> \u201cThe Causal Effect of Place: Evidence from Japanese-American Internment,\u201d found that the economic consequences of confinement lingered among internees even 50 years later, and varied greatly on where they were placed.<\/p>\n<p>Between 110,000 and 120,000 Japanese-Americans, 70 percent of them born in the United States, were forced to leave their homes on the West Coast and incarcerated in makeshift camps in desolate areas until after the end of World War II. When the Japanese Exclusion Act was revoked in 1945, the inhabitants were released, but their economic prospects were markedly, and forever, changed.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n\t\t<p>Japan\u2019s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 drew the United States into World War II and spawned a massive wave of shock and fear across the country. It also prompted the U.S. government to round up and send more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans to internment camps.<\/p>\n<p>Scholars have long studied this dark chapter in American history and its denial of basic freedoms, but until recently little was known about the long-term economic effects on the lives of the people who were interned, their businesses, homes, and possessions hastily left behind.<\/p>\n<p>Harvard economist Daniel Shoag and Nicholas Carollo, a Ph.D. candidate in economics at the University of California, Los Angeles, who wrote the <a href=\"http:\/\/economics.huji.ac.il\/sites\/default\/files\/economics\/files\/danny_shoag.pdf\">paper<\/a> \u201cThe Causal Effect of Place: Evidence from Japanese-American Internment,\u201d found that the economic consequences of confinement lingered among internees even 50 years later, and varied greatly on where they were placed.<\/p>\n<p>Between 110,000 and 120,000 Japanese-Americans, 70 percent of them born in the United States, were forced to leave their homes on the West Coast and incarcerated in makeshift camps in desolate areas until after the end of World War II. When the Japanese Exclusion Act was revoked in 1945, the inhabitants were released, but their economic prospects were markedly, and forever, changed.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n\t\t<p>Japan\u2019s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 drew the United States into World War II and spawned a massive wave of shock and fear across the country. It also prompted the U.S. government to round up and send more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans to internment camps.<\/p>\n<p>Scholars have long studied this dark chapter in American history and its denial of basic freedoms, but until recently little was known about the long-term economic effects on the lives of the people who were interned, their businesses, homes, and possessions hastily left behind.<\/p>\n<p>Harvard economist Daniel Shoag and Nicholas Carollo, a Ph.D. candidate in economics at the University of California, Los Angeles, who wrote the <a href=\"http:\/\/economics.huji.ac.il\/sites\/default\/files\/economics\/files\/danny_shoag.pdf\">paper<\/a> \u201cThe Causal Effect of Place: Evidence from Japanese-American Internment,\u201d found that the economic consequences of confinement lingered among internees even 50 years later, and varied greatly on where they were placed.<\/p>\n<p>Between 110,000 and 120,000 Japanese-Americans, 70 percent of them born in the United States, were forced to leave their homes on the West Coast and incarcerated in makeshift camps in desolate areas until after the end of World War II. When the Japanese Exclusion Act was revoked in 1945, the inhabitants were released, but their economic prospects were markedly, and forever, changed.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/image","attrs":{"sizeSlug":"full","align":"none","id":228411,"caption":"The economic impact on WWII Japanese-Americans placed in internment camps was felt for generations, notes Harvard Associate Professor of Public Policy Daniel Shoag. <br \/>Stephanie Mitchell\/Harvard Staff Photographer","blob":"","url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/internment_stoab_daniel_073-1.jpg","alt":"","lightbox":[],"title":"","href":"","rel":"","linkClass":"","width":"","height":"","aspectRatio":"","scale":"","linkDestination":"","linkTarget":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/internment_stoab_daniel_073-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-228411\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The economic impact on WWII Japanese-Americans placed in internment camps was felt for generations, notes Harvard Associate Professor of Public Policy Daniel Shoag. <br \/>Stephanie Mitchell\/Harvard Staff Photographer\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t","innerContent":["\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/internment_stoab_daniel_073-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-228411\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The economic impact on WWII Japanese-Americans placed in internment camps was felt for generations, notes Harvard Associate Professor of Public Policy Daniel Shoag. <br \/>Stephanie Mitchell\/Harvard Staff Photographer\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t"],"rendered":"\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/internment_stoab_daniel_073-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-228411\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The economic impact on WWII Japanese-Americans placed in internment camps was felt for generations, notes Harvard Associate Professor of Public Policy Daniel Shoag. <br \/>Stephanie Mitchell\/Harvard Staff Photographer\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t"},{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p>\u201cInternment is a tragic period in American history,\u201d said Shoag, associate professor of public policy at Harvard\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hks.harvard.edu\/\">Kennedy School of Government<\/a>. \u201cThere was some random component to where people were imprisoned, and yet these randomly assigned locations had a big impact on people. It affected the lives of the internees in every single economic outcome you can think of \u2014 income, education, housing, socioeconomic status, all sort of things, and their descendants as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Prior to the war, most Japanese-Americans had similar incomes and educational backgrounds, but after they were assigned to 10 camps across seven states \u2014 Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming \u2014 their economic fates changed. All internment camps were prison-like compounds, with barracks, watchtowers, and barbed wires, but some were close to wealthy regions and others to depressed areas.<\/p>\n<p>The study found that those internees who were sent to richer regions, where the local population earned close to the median income, had better opportunities upon release and did better economically than those who were sent to poorer places. Internees who were sent to wealthier locations earned more and were more likely to complete college and work in higher-status careers. Those who were put in poor, rural areas far away from cultural centers received less education, lived in worse housing, and earned less money.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe long-term impact of being put in a poorer place was large and dramatic,\u201d said Shoag.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p>\u201cInternment is a tragic period in American history,\u201d said Shoag, associate professor of public policy at Harvard\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hks.harvard.edu\/\">Kennedy School of Government<\/a>. \u201cThere was some random component to where people were imprisoned, and yet these randomly assigned locations had a big impact on people. It affected the lives of the internees in every single economic outcome you can think of \u2014 income, education, housing, socioeconomic status, all sort of things, and their descendants as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Prior to the war, most Japanese-Americans had similar incomes and educational backgrounds, but after they were assigned to 10 camps across seven states \u2014 Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming \u2014 their economic fates changed. All internment camps were prison-like compounds, with barracks, watchtowers, and barbed wires, but some were close to wealthy regions and others to depressed areas.<\/p>\n<p>The study found that those internees who were sent to richer regions, where the local population earned close to the median income, had better opportunities upon release and did better economically than those who were sent to poorer places. Internees who were sent to wealthier locations earned more and were more likely to complete college and work in higher-status careers. Those who were put in poor, rural areas far away from cultural centers received less education, lived in worse housing, and earned less money.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe long-term impact of being put in a poorer place was large and dramatic,\u201d said Shoag.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p>\u201cInternment is a tragic period in American history,\u201d said Shoag, associate professor of public policy at Harvard\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hks.harvard.edu\/\">Kennedy School of Government<\/a>. \u201cThere was some random component to where people were imprisoned, and yet these randomly assigned locations had a big impact on people. It affected the lives of the internees in every single economic outcome you can think of \u2014 income, education, housing, socioeconomic status, all sort of things, and their descendants as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Prior to the war, most Japanese-Americans had similar incomes and educational backgrounds, but after they were assigned to 10 camps across seven states \u2014 Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming \u2014 their economic fates changed. All internment camps were prison-like compounds, with barracks, watchtowers, and barbed wires, but some were close to wealthy regions and others to depressed areas.<\/p>\n<p>The study found that those internees who were sent to richer regions, where the local population earned close to the median income, had better opportunities upon release and did better economically than those who were sent to poorer places. Internees who were sent to wealthier locations earned more and were more likely to complete college and work in higher-status careers. Those who were put in poor, rural areas far away from cultural centers received less education, lived in worse housing, and earned less money.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe long-term impact of being put in a poorer place was large and dramatic,\u201d said Shoag.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p>The economic effects of internment could be measured across generations, the study found, and affected the internees\u2019 children. Their economic outcomes affected the values they held as well: Those from better-off areas tended to be more assimilated into U.S. society, and were more materialistic and optimistic, said researchers, based on survey data from the Japanese-American Research Project (JARP), a three-generation study (1890-1966) directed by the late UCLA sociologist Gene Levine.<\/p>\n<p>Those sent to poorer areas found it harder to get ahead. Many of them failed to get higher education, and their children\u2019s futures were compromised, said Shoag.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the things we look at is what happens when you\u2019re put in a hard place,\u201d he said. \u201cHow much does being randomly put in a place with low mobility affect the cross-generation correlation? We found that the next generations suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Researchers used detailed administrative data from the U.S. government, which helped to track nearly 90 percent of the surviving internees during the process of making restitution payments. With data spanning five decades, researchers were able to measure outcomes for the internees, their children, and their grandchildren. The researchers found that in 1980, nearly 40 years after the Japanese-Americans were first interned and 35 years after they were released, those who had been placed in the poorest camp (Rohwer, in Arkansas) still earned 17 percent less than those placed in the camp in the most affluent region (Heart Mountain, in Wyoming).<\/p>\n<p>The findings have broad implications for immigrants and refugee settlements. Policymakers and governments officials need to understand the importance of location assignments for the economic futures of immigrants, said Shoag.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s important for how we think about people\u2019s placement, from a policy angle,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we have refugees with similar incomes coming in, let\u2019s say some to Boston and others to Flint, well, the ones in Boston are going to make more money and get more education than those in Flint. This is an important consideration not just from an economic point of view, but also from an urban economics model.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The research found that many internees chose not to go back to their original homes on the West Coast, both because they feared racial enmity and because of housing shortages. Many wound up remaining in communities near their former internment camps.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople do get stuck,\u201d Shoag said, \u201cand this has consequences for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shoag said government officials should keep in mind the long-term effects of any policy involving placement or relocation when they deal with immigrants or refugees resettlements. The location can help to determine their future.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere have been discussions about allowing refugees into the country, maybe sending them to depressed parts of the country to bolster population,\u201d he said. \u201cBut when you send a refugee family to a low-income place, that is going to have a huge impact on them, their families, and their future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p>The economic effects of internment could be measured across generations, the study found, and affected the internees\u2019 children. Their economic outcomes affected the values they held as well: Those from better-off areas tended to be more assimilated into U.S. society, and were more materialistic and optimistic, said researchers, based on survey data from the Japanese-American Research Project (JARP), a three-generation study (1890-1966) directed by the late UCLA sociologist Gene Levine.<\/p>\n<p>Those sent to poorer areas found it harder to get ahead. Many of them failed to get higher education, and their children\u2019s futures were compromised, said Shoag.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the things we look at is what happens when you\u2019re put in a hard place,\u201d he said. \u201cHow much does being randomly put in a place with low mobility affect the cross-generation correlation? We found that the next generations suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Researchers used detailed administrative data from the U.S. government, which helped to track nearly 90 percent of the surviving internees during the process of making restitution payments. With data spanning five decades, researchers were able to measure outcomes for the internees, their children, and their grandchildren. The researchers found that in 1980, nearly 40 years after the Japanese-Americans were first interned and 35 years after they were released, those who had been placed in the poorest camp (Rohwer, in Arkansas) still earned 17 percent less than those placed in the camp in the most affluent region (Heart Mountain, in Wyoming).<\/p>\n<p>The findings have broad implications for immigrants and refugee settlements. Policymakers and governments officials need to understand the importance of location assignments for the economic futures of immigrants, said Shoag.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s important for how we think about people\u2019s placement, from a policy angle,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we have refugees with similar incomes coming in, let\u2019s say some to Boston and others to Flint, well, the ones in Boston are going to make more money and get more education than those in Flint. This is an important consideration not just from an economic point of view, but also from an urban economics model.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The research found that many internees chose not to go back to their original homes on the West Coast, both because they feared racial enmity and because of housing shortages. Many wound up remaining in communities near their former internment camps.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople do get stuck,\u201d Shoag said, \u201cand this has consequences for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shoag said government officials should keep in mind the long-term effects of any policy involving placement or relocation when they deal with immigrants or refugees resettlements. The location can help to determine their future.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere have been discussions about allowing refugees into the country, maybe sending them to depressed parts of the country to bolster population,\u201d he said. \u201cBut when you send a refugee family to a low-income place, that is going to have a huge impact on them, their families, and their future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p>The economic effects of internment could be measured across generations, the study found, and affected the internees\u2019 children. Their economic outcomes affected the values they held as well: Those from better-off areas tended to be more assimilated into U.S. society, and were more materialistic and optimistic, said researchers, based on survey data from the Japanese-American Research Project (JARP), a three-generation study (1890-1966) directed by the late UCLA sociologist Gene Levine.<\/p>\n<p>Those sent to poorer areas found it harder to get ahead. Many of them failed to get higher education, and their children\u2019s futures were compromised, said Shoag.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the things we look at is what happens when you\u2019re put in a hard place,\u201d he said. \u201cHow much does being randomly put in a place with low mobility affect the cross-generation correlation? We found that the next generations suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Researchers used detailed administrative data from the U.S. government, which helped to track nearly 90 percent of the surviving internees during the process of making restitution payments. With data spanning five decades, researchers were able to measure outcomes for the internees, their children, and their grandchildren. The researchers found that in 1980, nearly 40 years after the Japanese-Americans were first interned and 35 years after they were released, those who had been placed in the poorest camp (Rohwer, in Arkansas) still earned 17 percent less than those placed in the camp in the most affluent region (Heart Mountain, in Wyoming).<\/p>\n<p>The findings have broad implications for immigrants and refugee settlements. Policymakers and governments officials need to understand the importance of location assignments for the economic futures of immigrants, said Shoag.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s important for how we think about people\u2019s placement, from a policy angle,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we have refugees with similar incomes coming in, let\u2019s say some to Boston and others to Flint, well, the ones in Boston are going to make more money and get more education than those in Flint. This is an important consideration not just from an economic point of view, but also from an urban economics model.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The research found that many internees chose not to go back to their original homes on the West Coast, both because they feared racial enmity and because of housing shortages. Many wound up remaining in communities near their former internment camps.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople do get stuck,\u201d Shoag said, \u201cand this has consequences for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shoag said government officials should keep in mind the long-term effects of any policy involving placement or relocation when they deal with immigrants or refugees resettlements. The location can help to determine their future.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere have been discussions about allowing refugees into the country, maybe sending them to depressed parts of the country to bolster population,\u201d he said. \u201cBut when you send a refugee family to a low-income place, that is going to have a huge impact on them, their families, and their future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n"}],"innerHTML":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n\r\n\t\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\n\n<\/div>\n","innerContent":["\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n","\r\n\t","\n\t\r\n","\r\n\r\n","\n\n<\/div>\n"],"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-content-justification-center is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n\n\n\t\t<p>Japan\u2019s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 drew the United States into World War II and spawned a massive wave of shock and fear across the country. It also prompted the U.S. government to round up and send more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans to internment camps.<\/p>\n<p>Scholars have long studied this dark chapter in American history and its denial of basic freedoms, but until recently little was known about the long-term economic effects on the lives of the people who were interned, their businesses, homes, and possessions hastily left behind.<\/p>\n<p>Harvard economist Daniel Shoag and Nicholas Carollo, a Ph.D. candidate in economics at the University of California, Los Angeles, who wrote the <a href=\"http:\/\/economics.huji.ac.il\/sites\/default\/files\/economics\/files\/danny_shoag.pdf\">paper<\/a> \u201cThe Causal Effect of Place: Evidence from Japanese-American Internment,\u201d found that the economic consequences of confinement lingered among internees even 50 years later, and varied greatly on where they were placed.<\/p>\n<p>Between 110,000 and 120,000 Japanese-Americans, 70 percent of them born in the United States, were forced to leave their homes on the West Coast and incarcerated in makeshift camps in desolate areas until after the end of World War II. When the Japanese Exclusion Act was revoked in 1945, the inhabitants were released, but their economic prospects were markedly, and forever, changed.<\/p>\n\r\n\t\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/internment_stoab_daniel_073-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-228411\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The economic impact on WWII Japanese-Americans placed in internment camps was felt for generations, notes Harvard Associate Professor of Public Policy Daniel Shoag. <br \/>Stephanie Mitchell\/Harvard Staff Photographer\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\n\t\r\n\n<p>\u201cInternment is a tragic period in American history,\u201d said Shoag, associate professor of public policy at Harvard\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hks.harvard.edu\/\">Kennedy School of Government<\/a>. \u201cThere was some random component to where people were imprisoned, and yet these randomly assigned locations had a big impact on people. It affected the lives of the internees in every single economic outcome you can think of \u2014 income, education, housing, socioeconomic status, all sort of things, and their descendants as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Prior to the war, most Japanese-Americans had similar incomes and educational backgrounds, but after they were assigned to 10 camps across seven states \u2014 Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming \u2014 their economic fates changed. All internment camps were prison-like compounds, with barracks, watchtowers, and barbed wires, but some were close to wealthy regions and others to depressed areas.<\/p>\n<p>The study found that those internees who were sent to richer regions, where the local population earned close to the median income, had better opportunities upon release and did better economically than those who were sent to poorer places. Internees who were sent to wealthier locations earned more and were more likely to complete college and work in higher-status careers. Those who were put in poor, rural areas far away from cultural centers received less education, lived in worse housing, and earned less money.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe long-term impact of being put in a poorer place was large and dramatic,\u201d said Shoag.<\/p>\n\r\n\r\n\n<p>The economic effects of internment could be measured across generations, the study found, and affected the internees\u2019 children. Their economic outcomes affected the values they held as well: Those from better-off areas tended to be more assimilated into U.S. society, and were more materialistic and optimistic, said researchers, based on survey data from the Japanese-American Research Project (JARP), a three-generation study (1890-1966) directed by the late UCLA sociologist Gene Levine.<\/p>\n<p>Those sent to poorer areas found it harder to get ahead. Many of them failed to get higher education, and their children\u2019s futures were compromised, said Shoag.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the things we look at is what happens when you\u2019re put in a hard place,\u201d he said. \u201cHow much does being randomly put in a place with low mobility affect the cross-generation correlation? We found that the next generations suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Researchers used detailed administrative data from the U.S. government, which helped to track nearly 90 percent of the surviving internees during the process of making restitution payments. With data spanning five decades, researchers were able to measure outcomes for the internees, their children, and their grandchildren. The researchers found that in 1980, nearly 40 years after the Japanese-Americans were first interned and 35 years after they were released, those who had been placed in the poorest camp (Rohwer, in Arkansas) still earned 17 percent less than those placed in the camp in the most affluent region (Heart Mountain, in Wyoming).<\/p>\n<p>The findings have broad implications for immigrants and refugee settlements. Policymakers and governments officials need to understand the importance of location assignments for the economic futures of immigrants, said Shoag.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s important for how we think about people\u2019s placement, from a policy angle,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we have refugees with similar incomes coming in, let\u2019s say some to Boston and others to Flint, well, the ones in Boston are going to make more money and get more education than those in Flint. This is an important consideration not just from an economic point of view, but also from an urban economics model.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The research found that many internees chose not to go back to their original homes on the West Coast, both because they feared racial enmity and because of housing shortages. Many wound up remaining in communities near their former internment camps.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople do get stuck,\u201d Shoag said, \u201cand this has consequences for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shoag said government officials should keep in mind the long-term effects of any policy involving placement or relocation when they deal with immigrants or refugees resettlements. The location can help to determine their future.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere have been discussions about allowing refugees into the country, maybe sending them to depressed parts of the country to bolster population,\u201d he said. \u201cBut when you send a refugee family to a low-income place, that is going to have a huge impact on them, their families, and their future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n"}},"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":323426,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2021\/03\/a-long-history-of-bigotry-against-asian-americans\/","url_meta":{"origin":228378,"position":0},"title":"The scapegoating of Asian Americans","author":"Lian Parsons","date":"March 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Anti-Asian hate crimes were on the rise in the wake of the COVID-19 public health crisis, but after the Atlanta shootings that left eight people dead, six of them women of Asian descent, there is renewed sense of urgency to denounce racism and scapegoating.","rel":"","context":"In "Nation & World"","block_context":{"text":"Nation & World","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rally to support Asian Americans.","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/AP_Newton-Asian-Americans.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/AP_Newton-Asian-Americans.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/AP_Newton-Asian-Americans.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/AP_Newton-Asian-Americans.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":162961,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2014\/11\/burma-genocide\/","url_meta":{"origin":228378,"position":1},"title":"The threat to Burma\u2019s minorities","author":"harvardgazette","date":"November 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Harvard faculty and scholars gathered with Burmese refugees to discuss the ongoing mistreatment of that country\u2019s Rohingya minority, which speakers called a \u201cslow-burning genocide.\u201d A Harvard Law School report said the country\u2019s Karen minority also are under siege.","rel":"","context":"In "Nation & World"","block_context":{"text":"Nation & World","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/110414_burma_genocide_213_605_1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/110414_burma_genocide_213_605_1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/110414_burma_genocide_213_605_1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6443,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2007\/03\/a-new-look-at-the-good-war\/","url_meta":{"origin":228378,"position":2},"title":"A new look at the ‘Good War’","author":"harvardgazette","date":"March 22, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"World War II has been called \"The Good War,\" often in contrast to later conflicts whose moral justification is seen as more ambivalent. But how did the Good War become good, and what aspects of it had to be suppressed to qualify it for that title? Three scholars attempted to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Arts & Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Arts & Culture","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/arts-humanities\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42823,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2004\/04\/morimoto-86-adviser-friend-to-generations-of-students\/","url_meta":{"origin":228378,"position":3},"title":"Morimoto, 86, adviser, friend to generations of students","author":"gazetteimport","date":"April 8, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Kiyo Morimoto, who helped tens of thousands of students adjust to college life in his 27 years at Harvards Bureau of Study Counsel, and who served for six years as the bureaus director, died Feb. 22 at the age of 86.","rel":"","context":"In "Campus & Community"","block_context":{"text":"Campus & Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2004\/04\/13-morimoto3-450-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":169387,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2015\/04\/not-backing-down\/","url_meta":{"origin":228378,"position":4},"title":"Not backing down","author":"harvardgazette","date":"April 27, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Speaking at the Harvard Kennedy School, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe talked about his country\u2019s economic and political difficulties, during the first stop of his state visit to the United States.","rel":"","context":"In "Nation & World"","block_context":{"text":"Nation & World","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/042715_abe_shinzo_663_504.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/042715_abe_shinzo_663_504.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/042715_abe_shinzo_663_504.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":334432,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2021\/12\/80-years-after-pearl-harbor-alum-recalls-wwii-service\/","url_meta":{"origin":228378,"position":5},"title":"\u2018I lost good friends\u2019","author":"harvardgazette","date":"December 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Leon Starr, Class of 1940, was living in Boston when the Japanese attacked the United States. He signed up for the Navy the next day.","rel":"","context":"In "Nation & World"","block_context":{"text":"Nation & World","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Leon Starr.","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Starr-1785.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Starr-1785.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Starr-1785.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Starr-1785.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108352576"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228378"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":228988,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228378\/revisions\/228988"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228378"},{"taxonomy":"format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gazette-formats?post=228378"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=228378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}