| Abstract: | The period form 1870 to the First World War was a period in which the international movement of people was less restricted than in any other period of modern times. Large income differential led to large and sustained rates of migration from resource-poor to resource-rich countries. High rates of natural population growth and a respective increase in population-related costs enforced this migration to an extent never seen before or thereafter. In addition, migration was strengthened by large decreases in transportation costs. During the first four decades of this period, transportation costs decreased to one sixth, but then rose substantially in the course of World War I. |
