What impact on local development do immigrants and their descendants have in the short and long term? The answer depends on the attributes they bring with them, what they pass on to their children, and how they interact with other groups. We develop the first measures of the country-of-ancestry composition and of GDP per worker for US counties from 1850 to 2010. We show that changes in ancestry composition are associated with changes in local economic development. We use the long panel and several instrumental variables strategies in an effort to assess different ancestry groups’ effect on county GDP per worker. Groups from countries with higher economic development, with cultural traits that favor cooperation, and with a long history of a centralized state have a greater positive impact on county GDP per worker. Ancestry diversity is positively related to county GDP per worker, while diversity in origin-country economic development or culture is negatively related.

中文翻译：

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你来自哪里有关系吗？1850-2010年美国各县的宗族构成和经济表现

在短期和长期内，移民及其后代会对当地发展产生什么影响？答案取决于他们带来的属性，他们传给孩子的东西以及他们与其他群体的互动方式。我们开发了1850年至2010年美国县的祖先国家组成和人均GDP的第一批指标。我们证明了祖先组成的变化与地方经济发展的变化有关。我们使用长面板和几种工具变量策略，以评估不同祖先群体对人均GDP的影响。具有较高经济发展水平的国家，具有支持合作的文化特征，具有长期中央集权历史的国家的群体，对县人均GDP产生了更大的积极影响。