IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/revinw/v52y2006i1p17-42.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Wealth And Asset Holdings Of U.S.‐Born And Foreign‐Born Households: Evidence From Sipp Data

Author

Listed:
  • Deborah A. Cobb‐Clark
  • Vincent A. Hildebrand

Abstract

SIPP data are used to analyze the wealth of the U.S. foreign‐born population. We find that the median wealth level of U.S.‐born couples is 2.5 times the median of foreign‐born couples, while the median wealth level of U.S.‐born singles is three times that of foreign‐born singles. Further, there is a great deal of diversity in wealth within the immigrant population. Diversity in net worth manifests itself primarily in source‐region differences, while entry‐cohort is more closely related to portfolio choices. Established immigrants hold less and recent immigrants hold more financial wealth. An opposite pattern emerges with respect to real estate equity.

Suggested Citation

  • Deborah A. Cobb‐Clark & Vincent A. Hildebrand, 2006. "The Wealth And Asset Holdings Of U.S.‐Born And Foreign‐Born Households: Evidence From Sipp Data," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 52(1), pages 17-42, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:revinw:v:52:y:2006:i:1:p:17-42
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-4991.2006.00174.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4991.2006.00174.x
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1475-4991.2006.00174.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lisa A. Keister, 2000. "Family Structure, Race, and Wealth Ownership: A Longitudinal Exploration of Wealth Accumulation Processes," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_304, Levy Economics Institute.
    2. Kapteyn, Arie & Alessie, Rob & Lusardi, Annamaria, 2005. "Explaining the wealth holdings of different cohorts: Productivity growth and Social Security," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(5), pages 1361-1391, July.
    3. Tullio Jappelli & Franco Modigliani, 2006. "The Age–Saving Profile and the Life-Cycle Hypothesis," Chapters, in: Lawrence R. Klein (ed.), Long-run Growth and Short-run Stabilization, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Edward N. Wolff, "undated". "Racial Wealth Disparities Is the Gap Closing?," Economics Public Policy Brief Archive ppb_66, Levy Economics Institute.
    5. Joseph G. Altonji & Ulrich Doraszelski, 2005. "The Role of Permanent Income and Demographics in Black/White Differences in Wealth," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(1).
    6. Lisa A. Keister, 2000. "Family Structure, Race, and Wealth Ownership: A Longitudinal Exploration of Wealth Accumulation Processes," Macroeconomics 0004051, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Deborah A. Cobb-Clark, 2003. "Public policy and the labor market adjustment of new immigrants to Australia," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 16(4), pages 655-681, November.
    8. F. Thomas Juster & Kathleen A. Kuester, 1991. "Differences In The Measurement Of Wealth, Wealth Inequality And Wealth Composition Obtained From Alternative U.S. Wealth Surveys," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 37(1), pages 33-62, March.
    9. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Susan Pozo, 2002. "Precautionary Saving by Young Immigrants and Young Natives," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 69(1), pages 48-71, July.
    10. Francine D. Blau & John W. Graham, 1990. "Black-White Differences in Wealth and Asset Composition," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 105(2), pages 321-339.
    11. Juster, F. Thomas & Smith, James P. & Stafford, Frank, 1999. "The measurement and structure of household wealth," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 253-275, June.
    12. Edward N. Wolff, 1998. "Recent Trends in the Size Distribution of Household Wealth," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(3), pages 131-150, Summer.
    13. Feldstein, Martin & Liebman, Jeffrey B., 2002. "Social security," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 32, pages 2245-2324, Elsevier.
    14. Frank P. Stafford & Ngina S. Chiteji, 1999. "Portfolio Choices of Parents and Their Children as Young Adults: Asset Accumulation by African-American Families," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 377-380, May.
    15. Tullio Jappelli, 1999. "The Age‐Wealth Profile And The Life‐Cycle Hypothesis: A Cohort Analysis With A Time Series Of Cross‐Sections Of Italian Households," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 45(1), pages 57-75, March.
    16. Borjas, George J., 2002. "Homeownership in the immigrant population," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 448-476, November.
    17. Smith, J.P., 1996. "Racial and Ethnic Differences in Wealth in the Health and Retirement Study," Papers 96-12, RAND - Reprint Series.
    18. James Smith & Michael Ward, 1980. "Asset Accumulation And Family Size," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 17(3), pages 243-260, August.
    19. Dustmann, Christian, 1997. "Return migration, uncertainty and precautionary savings," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 295-316, April.
    20. repec:ilo:ilowps:338944 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Galor, Oded & Stark, Oded, 1990. "Migrants' Savings, the Probability of Return Migration and Migrants' Performance," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 31(2), pages 463-467, May.
    22. George J. Borjas, 2021. "Self-Selection and the Earnings of Immigrants," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foundational Essays in Immigration Economics, chapter 4, pages 69-91, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    23. Feldstein, Martin & Pellechio, Anthony, 1979. "Social Security and Household Wealth Accumulation: New Microeconometric Evidence," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 61(3), pages 361-368, August.
    24. Christopher D. Carroll & Byung-Kun Rhee & Changyong Rhee, 1994. "Are There Cultural Effects on Saving? Some Cross-Sectional Evidence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 109(3), pages 685-699.
    25. John Heaton & Deborah Lucas, 2000. "Portfolio Choice and Asset Prices: The Importance of Entrepreneurial Risk," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(3), pages 1163-1198, June.
    26. Gary Painter & Lihong Yang & Zhou Yu, 2001. "Heterogeneity in Asian American Homeownership: The Impact of Household Endowments and Immigrant Status," Working Paper 8630, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
    27. Shamsuddin, Abul F M & DeVoretz, Don J, 1998. "Wealth Accumulation of Canadian and Foreign-Born Households in Canada," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 44(4), pages 515-533, December.
    28. Abul F. M. Shamsuddin & Don J. DeVoretz, 1998. "Wealth Accumulation Of Canadian And Foreign‐Born Households In Canada," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 44(4), pages 515-533, December.
    29. George J. Borjas, 1994. "The Economics of Immigration," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 32(4), pages 1667-1717, December.
    30. Lofstrom, Magnus & Bean, Frank D., 2001. "Labor Market Conditions and Post-Reform Declines in Welfare Receipt Among Immigrants," IZA Discussion Papers 347, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Thomas K. Bauer & Deborah A. Cobb‐Clark & Vincent A. Hildebrand & Mathias G. Sinning, 2011. "A Comparative Analysis Of The Nativity Wealth Gap," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 49(4), pages 989-1007, October.
    2. Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & Vincent A. Hildebrand, 2006. "The Wealth of Mexican Americans," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 41(4).
    3. Sinning, Mathias, 2007. "Wealth and Asset Holdings of Immigrants in Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 3089, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Thomas Bauer & Mathias Sinning, 2011. "The savings behavior of temporary and permanent migrants in Germany," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(2), pages 421-449, April.
    5. repec:zbw:rwirep:0030 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Mathias Sinning, 2007. "Wealth and Asset Holdings of Immigrants in Germany," Ruhr Economic Papers 0030, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    7. Belton, Willie & Uwaifo Oyelere, Ruth, 2008. "The Racial Saving Gap Enigma: Unraveling the Role of Institutions," IZA Discussion Papers 3545, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Hildebrand, Vincent A., 2008. "The Asset Portfolios of Native-Born and Foreign-Born Households," IZA Discussion Papers 3304, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Mathä, Thomas Y. & Porpiglia, Alessandro & Sierminska, Eva, 2011. "The immigrant/native wealth gap in Germany, Italy and Luxembourg," Working Paper Series 1302, European Central Bank.
    10. Mathias Sinning, 2011. "Determinants of savings and remittances: empirical evidence from immigrants to Germany," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 45-67, March.
    11. Swarn Chatterjee, 2009. "Immigrants Have Lower Participation Rates In U.S. Financial Markets?," The International Journal of Business and Finance Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 3(2), pages 1-13.
    12. Deborah A. Cobb‐Clark & Vincent A. Hildebrand, 2009. "The Asset Portfolios of Native‐born and Foreign‐born Australian Households," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 85(268), pages 46-59, March.
    13. Hero Ashman & Seth Neumuller, 2020. "Can Income Differences Explain the Racial Wealth Gap: A Quantitative Analysis," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 35, pages 220-239, January.
    14. Deborah A. Cobb‐Clark & Vincent A. Hildebrand, 2006. "The Portfolio Choices of Hispanic Couples," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 87(5), pages 1344-1363, December.
    15. Swarnankur Chatterjee & Velma Zahirovic-Herbert, 2014. "A road to assimilation: immigrants and financial markets," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 38(2), pages 345-358, April.
    16. James E. CURTIS Jr., 2018. "Differences in wealth, evidence from structural regression decomposition, 1850-1870," Journal of Economic and Social Thought, KSP Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 42-55, March.
    17. Hannah Zillessen, 2022. "Uncertainty, Citizenship & Migrant Saving Choices," Economics Series Working Papers 1008, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    18. Lisa A. Keister, 2000. "Family Structure, Race, and Wealth Ownership: A Longitudinal Exploration of Wealth Accumulation Processes," Macroeconomics 0004051, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. M. Piracha & Y. Zhu, 2012. "Precautionary savings by natives and immigrants in Germany," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(21), pages 2767-2776, July.
    20. Lisa A. Keister, 2000. "Family Structure, Race, and Wealth Ownership: A Longitudinal Exploration of Wealth Accumulation Processes," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_304, Levy Economics Institute.
    21. Thomas Bauer & Mathias Sinning, 2005. "The Savings Behavior of Temporary and Permanent Migrants in Germany," RWI Discussion Papers 0029, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:revinw:v:52:y:2006:i:1:p:17-42. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iariwea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.