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Occupational Attainment and Immigrant Economic Progress in Australia

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  • BARRY R. CHISWICK
  • PAUL W. MILLER

Abstract

Using data from the 2001 Australian Census of Population and Housing, on adult men in full‐time employment, this paper augments a conventional human capital earnings function with information on occupations. It also estimates models of occupational attainment. The results from both the earnings function and model of occupational attainment indicate that the limited international transferability of human capital skills results in immigrants entering into relatively low status occupations when they first enter the Australian labour market. Comparison with similar research for the USA suggests that the different immigrant selection regimes (primarily family reunion in the USA, skill‐based immigration in Australia) do not impact on the negative association between current occupational status and pre‐immigration labour market experience.

Suggested Citation

  • Barry R. Chiswick & Paul W. Miller, 2008. "Occupational Attainment and Immigrant Economic Progress in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 84(s1), pages 45-56, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecorec:v:84:y:2008:i:s1:p:s45-s56
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-4932.2008.00482.x
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    1. 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.
    2. Chiswick, Barry R. & Miller, Paul W., 2008. "The "Negative" Assimilation of Immigrants: A Special Case," IZA Discussion Papers 3563, IZA Network @ LISER.
    3. Chiswick, Barry R. & Miller, Paul W., 2007. "Earnings and Occupational Attainment: Immigrants and the Native Born," IZA Discussion Papers 2676, IZA Network @ LISER.
    4. Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Schooling, Experience, and Earnings," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number minc74-1, January.
    5. Stephen Nickell, 1982. "The Determinants of Occupational Success in Britain," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 49(1), pages 43-53.
    6. Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Schooling and Earnings," NBER Chapters, in: Schooling, Experience, and Earnings, pages 41-63, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Cited by:

    1. M. Imran Khan, 2017. "Migrant workers in urban labour markets in India: wage differentials, assimilation and occupational attainment," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 60(3), pages 437-459, September.
    2. Bilal Rafi, 2015. "The Employment and Occupational Outcomes of Indian Male Migrants in the Australian Labour Market," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 18(1), pages 113-129.
    3. Qingfang Wang & Tetiana Lysenko, 2014. "Immigrant underemployment across US metropolitan areas: From a spatial perspective," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(10), pages 2202-2218, August.
    4. Duleep, Harriet & Liu, Xingfei & Regets, Mark, 2018. "Country of Origin, Earnings Convergence, and Human Capital Investment: A New Method for the Analysis of U.S. Immigrant Economic Assimilation," GLO Discussion Paper Series 247, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    5. Nadiya Ukrayinchuk & Carine Drapier, 2021. "Exhausted migrant effect : The health of immigrant workers in France [Exhausted migrant effect : La santé des travailleurs immigrés en France]," Post-Print hal-04775072, HAL.
    6. Zorlu, Aslan, 2011. "Occupational Adjustment of Immigrants," IZA Discussion Papers 6147, IZA Network @ LISER.
    7. Gilles Grenier & Li Xue, 2009. "Duration of Access of Canadian Immigrants to the First Job in Intended Occupation," Working Papers 0908E, University of Ottawa, Department of Economics.
    8. Phil Lewis & Bilal Rafi, 2014. "Earnings of Indian Male Migrants in the Australian Labour Market," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 17(3), pages 257-275.
    9. T Kifle & P Kler & CM Fleming, 2018. "Australian immigrantsâ labour market success: Does occupation matter?," Discussion Papers in Economics economics:201805, Griffith University, Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics.
    10. 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.
    11. Duleep, Harriet & Liu, Xingfei & Regets, Mark, 2021. "How the Earnings Growth of U.S. Immigrants Was Underestimated," GLO Discussion Paper Series 820, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    12. José Antonio García‐Barrero, 2024. "From circular to permanent: The economic assimilation of migrants during Spain's rural exodus, 1955–73," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 77(3), pages 765-795, August.
    13. Gibbons Eric M. & Mukhopadhyay Sankar, 2020. "New Evidence on International Transferability of Human Capital," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 11(1), pages 1-39, January.
    14. Chiswick, Barry R. & Miller, Paul W., 2008. "The "Negative" Assimilation of Immigrants: A Special Case," IZA Discussion Papers 3563, IZA Network @ LISER.
    15. Duleep, Harriet & Liu, Xingfei & Regets, Mark, 2014. "Country of Origin and Immigrant Earnings, 1960-2000: A Human Capital Investment Perspective," IZA Discussion Papers 8628, IZA Network @ LISER.
    16. Christopher M Fleming & Temesgen Kifle & Parvinder Kler, 2016. "Immigrant occupational mobility in Australia," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 30(5), pages 876-889, October.
    17. Cristina Procházková Ilinitchi, 2010. "Selected Migration Theories and their Importance on Drawing Migration Policies [Vybrané teorie migrace a jejich význam při vytváření migračních politik]," Acta Oeconomica Pragensia, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2010(6), pages 3-26.
    18. repec:bla:ecorec:v:85:y:2009:i:s1:p:s59-s73 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Sholeh A. Maani & Mengyu Dai & Kerr Inkson, 2015. "Occupational Attainment and Earnings among Immigrant Groups: Evidence from New Zealand," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 18(1), pages 95-112.
    20. Asadul Islam & Dietrich K. Fausten, 2008. "Skilled Immigration and Wages in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 84(s1), pages 66-82, September.
    21. Nadiya UKRAYINCHUK & Carine DRAPIER, 2021. "Exhausted migrant effect : La santé des travailleurs immigrés en France," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 53, pages 69-100.
    22. Barry R. Chiswick & W. Miller, 2011. "The “Negative†Assimilation of Immigrants: A Special Case," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 64(3), pages 502-525, April.
    23. Hamid Beladi & Saibal Kar, 2015. "Skilled and Unskilled Immigrants and Entrepreneurship in a Developed Country," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(3), pages 666-682, August.
    24. Arbel, Yuval & Tobol, Yossef & Siniver, Erez, 2012. "Social Involvement and Level of Household Income among Immigrants: New Evidence from the Israeli Experience," IZA Discussion Papers 6416, IZA Network @ LISER.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration

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