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Race, wages, and assimilation among Cuban immigrants

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  • Madeline Zavodny

Abstract

This study uses data from the 1980 and 1990 Census and the 1994-2000 Current Population Survey to examine the determinants of earnings among male Cuban immigrants in the United States by race. Nonwhite Cuban immigrants earn about 15 percent less than whites, on average. Much of the racial wage gap is due to differences in educational attainment, age at migration, and years in the United States, but the gap remains at almost 4 percent after controlling for such factors. Nonwhite Cuban immigrants also have lower returns to education than whites. A comparison to white, non-Hispanic U.S. natives indicates that nonwhite Cubans not only earn less initially than white Cubans on arrival in the United States but also do not significantly close the racial earnings gap over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Madeline Zavodny, 2003. "Race, wages, and assimilation among Cuban immigrants," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2003-10, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedawp:2003-10
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Sung David Chun, 2016. "The Effect of Double Racial Minority Status on Economic Performance in the United States," Research in World Economy, Research in World Economy, Sciedu Press, vol. 7(1), pages 95-106, June.
    3. Lisa A Keister & Brian Aronson, 2017. "Immigrants in the one percent: The national origin of top wealth owners," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(2), pages 1-24, February.
    4. Catalina Franco Buitrago, 2010. "Latin American Immigration in the United States: Is There Wage Assimilation Across the Wage Distribution?," Archivos de Economía 6447, Departamento Nacional de Planeación.

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    Keywords

    Immigrants; Employment (Economic theory); Discrimination in employment;
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