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Matching Language Proficiency to Occupation: The Effect on Immigrants' Earnings

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Author Info

  • Chiswick, Barry R.

    () (Stockholm University Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies - SULCIS)

  • Miller, Paul W.

    () (School of Economics and Finance)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the effect on earnings of the matching of English language skills to occupational requirements or occupational norms for adult male immigrants. It uses data from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) database and a “Realized Matches” procedure to quantify expected levels of English skills in each of over 500 occupations in the US Census. Earnings data from the 2000 US Census for foreign-born adult male workers are then examined in relation to these occupational English requirements or norms using the Over/Required/Under (or ORU) technique developed for the study of schooling. The analyses show that earnings are related to a “correct” matching of an individual’s language skills with what is expected in his occupation. Mismatches have a small effect on earnings – positive for extra proficiency and negative for deficits in proficiency, relative to the norm in the occupation. The findings are robust with respect to a range of measurement and specification issues.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Stockholm University Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies - SULCIS in its series SULCIS Working Papers with number 2011:4.

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Length: 35 pages
Date of creation: 07 Jul 2011
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:hhs:sulcis:2011_004

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Postal: Stockholm University Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies - SULCIS, Stockholm University, S-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
Web page: http://www.su.se/sulcis
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Related research

Keywords: English Language; Occupation; Earnings; Immigrants; Schooling;

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Cited by:
  1. Chiswick, Barry R. & Taengnoi, Sarinda, 2007. "Occupational Choice of High Skilled Immigrants in the United States," IZA Discussion Papers 2969, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  2. José Antonio Alonso & Rodolfo Gutiérrez, 2010. "Estrategias para el Desarrollo del Cluster de Enseñanza de Español en Salamanca," Documentos de Trabajo del Instituto Complutense de Estudios Internacionales 14-10, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Instituto Complutense de Estudios Internacionales.
  3. Silvio Rendon & Nuria Quella, 2009. "Occupational Selection in Multilingual Labor Markets: The Case of Catalonia," Department of Economics Working Papers 09-02, Stony Brook University, Department of Economics.

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