Education or exploitation hubs? Migration and career trajectories of journeymen in Dutch craft guilds, 1680-1780

Migration was at the core of pre-industrial human capital formation and innovation. Moving around enabled artisans to search for better opportunities and hone their skills, while at the same time contributing to the circulation of knowledge. The divergence between Western Europe and other regions can perhaps be partially ascribed to relatively high migration rates, facilitating an effective exchange of knowledge and skills across artisans (de la Croix et al. 2018; Mokyr, 2008; Epstein 2004). Nevertheless, there is still little empirical evidence supporting these claims. Furthermore, there is just as much literature suggesting that labour markets were closed (De Vries 1994), guilds favoured insiders (Ogilvie 2004), and that journeymenship was increasingly characterized by proletarianization and exploitation during the pre-industrial period (Lis & Soly 2008, 1994; Kuijpers, 2007). 
Our paper will bring the debate further by examining migration patterns of skilled workers and their access to guilds in the pre-industrial Netherlands. We collected data on more than 2,000 journeymen registering with several guilds in three Holland cities between c. 1680-1780. For most journeymen we know their place of origin, distances travelled, and their career in the receiving guild. To assess whether our sample reflects skilled migration patterns in general, we use data collected from settlement registers of Haarlem (1711-1780, n= 1,000). Our findings demonstrate that 1) the bulk of all journeymen in cities were migrants, yet most only travelled as far as needed to find an economic opportunity; 2) migrant journeymen experienced volatile employment and lower chances of becoming masters, yet this is likely not explained by rent-seeking guilds; 3) high-skill occupations attracted migrants from farther away, suggesting that some urban centres served as ‘education hubs’. Consequently, premodern migration appears to have benefited human capital formation and the circulation of knowledge.