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The Economic Progress of Immigrants

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Author Info
George J. Borjas

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Abstract

This paper presents a theoretical and empirical study of the economic progress experienced by immigrants in the U.S. labor market. The theoretical framework illustrates that the relationship between the entry wage of immigrants and the subsequent rate of wage growth depends on the technology of the human capital production function, particularly the extent of substitution or complementarity between pre-existing' human capital and post-migration investments. The empirical analysis uses the 1970-1990 decennial Census data. The evidence indicates that the correlation between the log entry wage and the rate of wage growth is positive but this correlation is weakened and perhaps turns negative when we compare immigrants who start out in the United States with similar human capital endowments. The empirical analysis also indicates that the same source country characteristics that lead to high wages at the time of entry also lead to faster wage growth.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 6506.

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Date of creation: Apr 1998
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:6506

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J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Robert J. LaLonde & Robert H. Topel, 1990. "The Assimilation of Immigrants in the U.S. Labor Markets," NBER Working Papers 3573, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. George J. Borjas, 1991. "National Origin and the Skills of Immigrants in the Postwar Period," NBER Working Papers 3575, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Lawrence F. Katz & Kevin M. Murphy, 1991. "Changes in Relative Wages, 1963-1987: Supply and Demand Factors," NBER Working Papers 3927, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. George J. Borjas & Bernt Bratsberg, 1994. "Who Leaves? The Outmigration of the Foreign-Born," NBER Working Papers 4913, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Murphy, Kevin M & Welch, Finis, 1992. "The Structure of Wages," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 107(1), pages 285-326, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Robert J. Barro, 1996. "Determinants of Economic Growth: A Cross-Country Empirical Study," NBER Working Papers 5698, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Robert J. Barro, 1991. "Economic Growth in a Cross Section of Countries," NBER Working Papers 3120, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Neumark, David & Taubman, Paul, 1995. "Why Do Wage Profiles Slope Upward? Tests of the General Human Capital Model," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 13(4), pages 736-61, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Deininger, Klaus & Squire, Lyn, 1996. "A New Data Set Measuring Income Inequality," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(3), pages 565-91, September.
  10. Guillermina Jasso & Mark Rosensweig & James P. Smith, 2003. "The Earnings of US immigrants," Labor and Demography 0312007, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  11. Chiswick, Barry R, 1978. "The Effect of Americanization on the Earnings of Foreign-born Men," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 86(5), pages 897-921, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Edward Funkhouser & Stephen J. Trejo, 1995. "The labor market skills of recent male immigrants: Evidence from the Current Population Survey," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 48(4), pages 792-811, July.
  13. Yuengert, A M, 1994. "Immigrant Earnings, Relative to What? The Importance of Earnings Function Specification and Comparison Points," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 9(1), pages 71-90, Jan.-Marc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Mankiw, N Gregory & Romer, David & Weil, David N, 1992. "A Contribution to the Empirics of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 107(2), pages 407-37, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Rosen, Sherwin, 1976. "A Theory of Life Earnings," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 84(4), pages S45-67, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. George J. Borjas, 1994. "The Economics of Immigration," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 32(4), pages 1667-1717, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Yoram Ben-Porath, 1967. "The Production of Human Capital and the Life Cycle of Earnings," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 75, pages 352. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Borjas, George J, 1987. "Self-Selection and the Earnings of Immigrants," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(4), pages 531-53, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  19. Hause, John C, 1980. "The Fine Structure of Earnings and the On-the-Job Training Hypothesis," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 1013-29, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Kearl, J R, 1988. "The Covariance Structure of Earnings and Income, Compensatory Behavior, and On-the-Job Investments," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 70(2), pages 214-23, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. Barro, Robert J. & Lee, Jong-Wha, 1994. "Sources of economic growth," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 1-46, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Edin, Per-Anders & Fredriksson, Peter & Åslund, Olof, 2000. "Settlement Policies and the Economic Success of Immigrants," Working Paper Series 2000:22, Uppsala University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Huffman, Wallace, 2003. "Immigration in the U.S. Midwest during the 1990s: A Decade of Rapid Change," Staff General Research Papers 11172, Iowa State University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  3. Barth, Erling & Bratsberg, Bernt & Raaum, Oddbjørn, 2003. "Local Unemployment and the Relative Wages of Immigrants: Evidence from the Current Population Surveys," Memorandum 20/2002, Oslo University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Neagu, Ileana Cristina, 2009. "Career placement of skilled migrants in the U.S. labor market : a dynamic approach," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4891, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  5. Milo Bianchi & Paolo Buonanno & Paolo Pinotti, 2008. "Immigration and crime: an empirical analysis," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 698, Bank of Italy, Economic Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  6. Eckstein, Zvi & Weiss, Yoram, 2003. "On the Wage Growth of Immigrants: Israel, 1990-2000," IZA Discussion Papers 710, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Domeland, Dorte, 2007. "Trade and human capital accumulation: evidence from U.S. immigrants," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4144, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  8. Lena Nekby, 2006. "The emigration of immigrants, return vs onward migration: evidence from Sweden," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 197-226, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  9. Milo Bianchi & Paolo Buonanno & Paolo Pinotti, 2008. "Do immigrants cause crime?," PSE Working Papers 2008-05, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure), revised Nov 2008. [Downloadable!]
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