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The Culture Transplant: How Migrants Make the Economies They Move To a Lot Like the Ones They Left 1st Edition

by Garett Jones (Author)

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A provocative new analysis of immigration's long-term effects on a nation's economy and culture.

Over the last two decades, as economists began using big datasets and modern computing power to reveal the sources of national prosperity, their statistical results kept pointing toward the power of culture to drive the wealth of nations. In The Culture Transplant, Garett Jones documents the cultural foundations of cross-country income differences, showing that immigrants import cultural attitudes from their homelands―toward saving, toward trust, and toward the role of government―that persist for decades, and likely for centuries, in their new national homes. Full assimilation in a generation or two, Jones reports, is a myth. And the cultural traits migrants bring to their new homes have enduring effects upon a nation's economic potential.

Built upon mainstream, well-reviewed academic research that hasn't pierced the public consciousness, this book offers a compelling refutation of an unspoken consensus that a nation's economic and political institutions won't be changed by immigration. Jones refutes the common view that we can discuss migration policy without considering whether migration can, over a few generations, substantially transform the economic and political institutions of a nation. And since most of the world's technological innovations come from just a handful of nations, Jones concludes, the entire world has a stake in whether migration policy will help or hurt the quality of government and thus the quality of scientific breakthroughs in those rare innovation powerhouses.

ISBN-10

1503632946
ISBN-13

978-1503632943
Edition

1st
Publisher

Stanford Business Books
Publication date

November 15, 2022
Language

English
Dimensions

6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
Print length

228 pages
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Immigrants change the countries they move to. The Culture Transplant is the very best book on this phenomenon, reflecting the continuing rise of Garett Jones as a thinker and writer of real import."―Tyler Cowen, blogger, Marginal Revolution

"Synthesizing decades of new work in development economics, Garett Jones re-examines and rejects some of the core assumptions within the modern immigration debate. Defenders of open borders―utilitarians in particular―will have to seriously grapple with this novel and groundbreaking book."―Hrishikesh Joshi, Bowling Green State University

"A unique and authoritative treatment of the deep persistence of cultural attributes that permeates across generations, and through migration, shapes institutions and contemporary outcomes. By focusing on people rather than places, Garett Jones provides a unique perspective on how we should think about the role of migration and diversity in understanding modern successes and failures. Jones's treatment of the literature is a master class in distilling rigorous research and presenting it in a breezy fashion that is hard to put down once you get started."―Areendam Chanda, Louisiana State University

"The Culture Transplant is a good read, a brief dive into the intriguing question of why some places and some people are so much more prosperous than others."―Robert VerBruggen, Wall Street Journal

Much of the literature on immigrant assimilation looks at easily observable questions about subsequent generations, such as whether they are learning English, graduating high school, and moving up the income ladder. Jones's book proves that these external accomplishments do not necessarily indicate assimilation at the deeper level of cultural values. This is of the greatest possible importance, because every day social science discovers further evidence that these cultural values, more than anything else, determine what a country's politics and its economy will look like in the future."―Helen Andrews, The American Conservative

"Jones has written an excellent synopsis of the deep roots of culture and the persistent effects of these deep roots. The book is concise and easy to read, led by Jones's ability to decompose complicated ideas into easily understood examples and descriptions. Researchers and the public will gain valuable insights from The Cultural Transplant, a better understanding of the persistence of culture and longrunning factors that have placed countries on socioeconomic trajectories that have yielded vast differences in living standards across the world."―C. Justin Cook, The Developing Economies

"Most economists agree that immigration―including illegal immigration―leads to greater economic growth and innovation. However, Jones argues that immigrants transplant their culture in the countries they move to, making the economies there similar to those in their home countries. Where immigrants come from and their home nation's technological development are critical to the economic and cultural impacts they have on the countries they move to."―P. Z. McKay, CHOICE

About the Author

Garett Jones is Associate Professor of Economics at the Center for Study of Public Choice, George Mason University. He is the author of 10% Less Democracy: Why You Should Trust Elites a Little More and the Masses a Little Less (Stanford, 2020) and Hive Mind: How Your Nation's IQ Matters So Much More Than Your Own (Stanford, 2015).

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Stanford Business Books; 1st edition (November 15, 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 228 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1503632946
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1503632943
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #772,386 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #140 in Econometrics & Statistics
- #792 in Emigration & Immigration Studies (Books)
- #1,166 in Economic Conditions (Books)

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Garett Jones

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I'm an economics professor at George Mason University and author of The Culture Transplant, which explains how migrants tend to make the economies they move to a lot like the economies they came from. I am the author of three books--my Singapore Trilogy--with Stanford University Press. The other two are Hive Mind, on why being around smart people is more important than being smart yourself, and 10% Less Democracy, on why democracy is excellent but that doesn't mean you can't have too much of a good thing.

In the past, I've worked as an economic adviser in the United States Senate, both for Senator Orrin Hatch and (for a summer) on the Joint Economic Committee. As an undergraduate at Brigham Young University, I studied history and sociology; I later studied public administration at Cornell and earned an MA in political science at Berkeley. In 2000 I received a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, San Diego, where I had studied macroeconomics and applied time series econometrics.

I've also passed the introductory sommelier examination through the Court of Master Sommeliers.

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4.6 out of 5

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Interesting, with thought provoking facts

Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2022

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An interesting book that lays out some facts about immigration and the "deep roots" literature that I was not familiar with. I enjoyed both the arguments Jones makes and his sometimes provocative proposals (how to help the world's poorest countries? Encourage people from China, which has lots of the deep roots Jones says correlate with successful governments and economies, to immigrate to those poor countries.) I do wish he had engaged with his critics in more depth -- while he addresses some of their writing, it often tends to be on a high level rather than engaging with the specific criticisms. I would give it 4.5 stars if I could, but since I can't it gets 5.

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Brian LaRocca

On the Persistence of Culture

Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2022

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Garrett Jones is happy to make an unpopular argument. In this book, he makes the case that immigrants bring with them their culture and their culture will persist for generations down the road. 46% of a culture's feelings towards trust last four generations after migration and that same fourth generation only conforms with the host country's value 38%. A county level analysis shows that a county's success mirrors the success of the type of immigrants who arrived generations ago.

Laissez-faire acceptance of immigrants could be dangerous as it would invite social tension and change the character and governance structures receiving the new arrivals. Whom to accept? Generally, countries with a history success seem to innovate over the long run. Additionally, Chinese migrants have done well as new arrivals in many countries perhaps due to familial business success, thrift and a willingness to trade globally with other Chinese.

Jones stresses that diversity of ideas in the workplace clearly helps corporations but that "a double-edged sword in the workplace, a nudge toward lower trust in the local neighborhood, and a multiplier of social conflict for the nation" is the most likely outcome for countries with high immigration levels.

I have hard time believing a lot of this, mostly because I think a lot of it is well refuted by Bryan Caplan's Open Borders and the work of Peter Zeihan that has stressed the importance of geopolitics rather than culture. However, its heterodox and worth reading.

5 people found this helpful

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Francis O Walker

The Health of Nations

Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2022

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This is a thoughtful and provocative discussion of how countries make economic progress. Is it through conquest, colonialism, assimilation or does it reflect the technological and legal experience of immigrants who move there? Garrett Jones makes the argument, backed up with objective evidence spanning the globe and 2 millennia of history, that successful adaptation of technology and fair laws in one’s home country takes root in the country they move to and are dominant factors in enhancing productivity there. (Mr. Putin, so much for invasion!) Anyone considering how to best improve the lives of our 8 billion fellow humans will find this a compelling read.

One person found this helpful

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John A. Howard

Immigration & Successful Cultures

Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2023

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When discussing immigration, it's helpful if everyone is familiar with data underlying the question of when and under what circumstances immigration is a net positive.

Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2023

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Hard to put down once you start reading it. The author takes you through many studies of past immigration and brings you up to the present. Well written and very informative.

One person found this helpful

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Michael Mendle

clever piece; have the cancel crew tried to shut him down?

Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2023

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clever piece; have the cancel crew tried to shut him down?

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Chris

Culture and Economics

Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2023

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The author, an economist at George Mason University, argues that culture is "sticky" and highly important. He argues that when people's values are a variety of topics are measured, immigrants have values similar to their homeland for at least four generations (i.e., up to at least the great-grandchildren of the original immigrant). Further, values are important. They are important to people, as evidenced by the conflict between groups with different values. For example, at Kenyan flower plants, ethnically heterogenous worker pairs are less productive than homogenous worker pairs, and this productivity gap increases during periods of ethnic strife. Further, the author shows that despite the mantra of "diversity is our strength", there is strong evidence that ethnic diversity has a neutral or even negative impact on economic productivity and social trust, and ethnic diversity increases the risk of civil war.

Values are also important to economies. And values have deep roots -- much of the present-day variance in wealth between states can be explained by differences in how long the inhabitants of those states lived under organized states and had agriculture. Further, the most important factor in present-day variance in wealth between states is a states' level of technological development in 1500, which is itself heavily influenced by how long the inhabitants of those states lived under organized states and had agriculture. Importantly, it is people that matters, not place. That is, when you adjust for migration, you find that places where migrants have come with strong backgrounds in living under states, agriculture, and technological development in 1500 (what the author calls "SAT") are wealthier than other societies. People with strong "SAT" scores build stronger, less corrupt state institutions, and these stronger state institutions create stronger economic growth.

The author argues that, given the risks of decreased economic efficiency and increased violence, countries should be selective about immigrants. Countries should take in mostly immigrants with strong, specific skills, as skills diversity is a rare instance of diversity having a positive impact. Further, this skills diversity will boost economic productivity enough to outweigh the negatives of ethnic diversity.

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Kevin Murray

Lacks case studies

Reviewed in Australia on December 17, 2022

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The argument behind this book is very interesting, but unfortunately, the content is limited to quite abstract statistics. The author eschews any analysis of why certain migrant groups have a positive impact on their host countries, nor really what kind of positive impact this might be. He throws in a few parables, but otherwise it is lacking case studies that can help us understand more deeply the process of culture implant. It focuses mostly on the USA, whereas other countries like Canada and Australia have distinct models of multiculturalism that are worth considering. But behind it all, there is no awareness that economic growth isn't the only measure of consequence. In Melbourne, we have a strong Lebanese migrant community that are not represented around the board tables, but bring a culture of hospitality that sparks joy for locals.

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