The Impact of the Japanese Relocation in WWII on US Agricultural Productivity

Peter Lin, Western Kentucky University
Giovanni Peri, University of California, Davis

In 1940, Japanese Americans comprised a significant share of highly skilled farmers in the U.S. They were literate and well-positioned to adopt emerging agricultural technologies—mechanization, fertilizers, crop selection, and greenhouse farming—driving farm productivity and success. However, between 1942 and 1945, tens of thousands were forcibly removed from the Pacific Coast and interned due to wartime fears of collaboration with Japan. Using county-level panel data from 1920 to 1960 and a triple-difference approach, we find that counties subject to evacuation orders with a high pre-1940 share of Japanese farm employment experienced a relative decline in farm value between 1940 and 1960. Additionally, these counties saw slower growth in land productivity, high-value crop adoption, and mechanization. The removal of skilled Japanese farmers hindered agricultural productivity growth, potentially slowing overall economic advancement in the affected regions.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 58. Migrant Lives at the Margins