Immigrant Earnings, Relative to What? The Importance of Earnings Function Specification and Comparison Points
Abstract
Immigrant relative earnings estimates are sensitive to the choice of comparison point and the specification of earnings. Non-sample mean comparisons (Borjas, 1985) understate relative earnings. Simple earnings specifications (linear education, quadratic experience) overstate relative earnings for both poorly and well-educated immigrants. Specifications which ignore omitted variables understate the relative earnings of poorly educated immigrants and overstate those of well-educated ones. Although measures of assimilation and changes in immigrant quality are insensitive to earnings specification, they indicate strong earnings growth for post-1964 immigrants, an overall decrease in immigrant quality, and an increase in Mexican immigrant quality. Copyright 1994 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Download Info
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Article provided by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. in its journal Journal of Applied Econometrics.
Volume (Year): 9 (1994)
Issue (Month): 1 (Jan.-March)
Pages: 71-90
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Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- George J. Borjas & Lawrence F. Katz, 2007.
"The Evolution of the Mexican-Born Workforce in the United States,"
NBER Chapters,
in: Mexican Immigration to the United States, pages 13-56
National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- George J. Borjas & Lawrence F. Katz, 2005. "The Evolution of the Mexican-Born Workforce in the United States," NBER Working Papers 11281, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- George J. Borjas, 1998.
"The Economic Progress of Immigrants,"
NBER Working Papers
6506, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- George J. Borjas, 2000. "The Economic Progress of Immigrants," NBER Chapters, in: Issues in the Economics of Immigration, pages 15-50 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Ahmed, Nina, 2005. "Intergenerational Impact of Immigrants' Selection and Assimilation on Health Outcomes of Children," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2005247e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
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