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How the earnings growth of US immigrants was underestimated

Author

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  • Harriet Duleep

    (College of William & Mary)

  • Xingfei Liu

    (University of Alberta)

  • Mark Regets

    (National Foundation for American Policy, GLO, IZA)

Abstract

Two radically different descriptions of immigrant earnings trajectories in the USA have emerged. One asserts that immigrant men, following the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, have low initial earnings and high earnings growth. Another asserts that the post-1965 immigrants have low initial earnings and low earnings growth. We describe the methodological issues that create this divide and show that low earnings growth becomes high earnings growth when immigrants are followed from their initial years in the USA; earnings growth is allowed to vary with entry earnings; and—when following cohorts instead of individuals—sample restrictions commonly used by labor economists are avoided.

Suggested Citation

  • Harriet Duleep & Xingfei Liu & Mark Regets, 2022. "How the earnings growth of US immigrants was underestimated," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(2), pages 381-407, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:35:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s00148-021-00861-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-021-00861-2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sample restrictions; Immigrant earnings growth; Human capital investment; US census;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs
    • C1 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General

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