Eminent Speaker Series: Prof. Leah Boustan - ONLINE ONLY

Where are the streets of gold? Intergenerational mobility of immigrants across destination countries

This talk will introduce patterns for intergenerational mobility of the children of immigrants across fifteen destination countries. In most destinations, the daughters of immigrants experience higher mobility than daughters of locals. Sons of immigrants enjoy an advantage in Anglosphere destinations (including Australia) but not in continental Europe. Cross-country variation in mobility cannot be explained by parental country-of-origin, but instead by destination educational systems and labor markets. The talk will conclude by considering cross-country differences in political attitudes towards immigration.

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear Professor Leah Boustan in discussion with ESA’s National President, Professor Robert Breunig. Register below to secure your place.

About our Speaker

Leah Boustan is Professor of Economics and Director of the Economic History Program at Yale University. She is also a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, where she co-directs the Development of the American Economy Program, and a co-editor of the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics.

Her research sits at the intersection of economic history and labor economics, with a focus on migration, labor markets, and inequality in American history. She is the author of Competition in the Promised Land: Black Migrants in Northern Cities and Labor Markets (Princeton University Press, 2016), which received awards from the Social Science History Association and the Economic History Association. Her second book, Streets of Gold: America’s Untold Story of Immigrant Success (with Ran Abramitzky; Public Affairs, 2022), was named among the best books of 2022 by The New Yorker, Forbes, and Behavioral Scientist.

Boustan received the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship in 2012 and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2026. She is also a Fellow of the Econometric Society and the Society of Labor Economists. She earned her A.B. from Princeton University and her Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Information

When: Wednesday 22 July 2026
Time: From 8.00am until 9.00am AEST (check the time where you are)
Where: Online via Zoom
Cost: Free of Charge for members / $10 for non-members - remember to login prior to avoid the non-member fee.

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The timing of this event is AEDT (SYD/CBR/MEL). View ESA Central Council's Code of Conduct