IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cpp/issued/v29y2003i3p319-337.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Initial Earnings and Catch-Up Capacity of Immigrants

Author

Listed:
  • Peter S. Li

Abstract

The literature, largely based on cross-sectional census data, has suggested that recent immigrant cohorts to Canada earned less than earlier ones relative to Canadians' earnings. The Longitudinal Immigration Data Base (IMDB) developed by Citizenship and Immigration Canada and Statistics Canada provides rich data for studying immigrants' longitudinal earnings profiles. Using custom-made IMDB tables, this paper estimates the initial earnings gap between immigrants and Canadians, and immigrants' catch-up capacity, defined as the number of years immigrants took, or expected to take, to reach earnings parity with Canadians. The findings show that recent immigrant cohorts earned less initially than earlier ones, but caught up faster. Some tentative explanations and policy implications are offered.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter S. Li, 2003. "Initial Earnings and Catch-Up Capacity of Immigrants," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 29(3), pages 319-337, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpp:issued:v:29:y:2003:i:3:p:319-337
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0317-0861%28200309%2929%3A3%3C319%3AIEACCO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-6
    Download Restriction: only available to JSTOR subscribers
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James Ted McDonald & Christopher Worswick, 1998. "The Earnings of Immigrant Men in Canada: Job Tenure, Cohort, and Macroeconomic Conditions," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 51(3), pages 465-482, April.
    2. David E. Bloom & Morley Gunderson, 1991. "An Analysis of the Earnings of Canadian Immigrants," NBER Chapters, in: Immigration, Trade, and the Labor Market, pages 321-342, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. David E. Bloom & Gilles Grenier & Morley Gunderson, 1995. "The Changing Labour Market Position of Canadian Immigrants," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 28(4b), pages 987-1005, November.
    4. George J. Borjas, 2021. "Assimilation, Changes in Cohort Quality, and the Earnings of Immigrants," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foundational Essays in Immigration Economics, chapter 2, pages 3-29, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    5. Chiswick, Barry R, 1977. "Sons of Immigrants: Are They at an Earnings Disadvantage?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(1), pages 376-380, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Neeraj Kaushal & Yao Lu & Nicole Denier & Julia Shu-Huah Wang & Stephen J. Trejo, 2016. "Immigrant employment and earnings growth in Canada and the USA: evidence from longitudinal data," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(4), pages 1249-1277, October.
    2. Abbott, Michael G. & Beach, Charles M., 2011. "Immigrant Earnings Differences Across Admission Categories and Landing Cohorts in Canada," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2011-20, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 21 Aug 2011.
    3. Picot, Garnett & Sweetman, Arthur, 2005. "The Deteriorating Economic Welfare of Immigrants and Possible Causes: Update 2005," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2005262e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    4. Patrik Marier & Suzanne Skinner, 2008. "The Impact of Gender and Immigration on Pension Outcomes in Canada," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 34(s1), pages 59-78, November.
    5. Abdurrahman Aydemir, 2013. "Skill-based immigrant selection and labor market outcomes by visa category," Chapters, in: Amelie F. Constant & Klaus F. Zimmermann (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Migration, chapter 23, pages 432-452, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Hou, Feng & Picot, Garnett & Coulombe, Simon, 2007. "Chronic Low Income and Low-income Dynamics Among Recent Immigrants," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2007294e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    7. Kristyn Frank, 2013. "Immigrant Employment Success in C anada: Examining the Rate of Obtaining a Job Match," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1), pages 76-105, March.
    8. Hou, Feng & Picot, Garnett, 2009. "The Effect of Immigrant Selection and the IT Bust on the Entry Earnings of Immigrants," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2009-37, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 26 Jun 2009.
    9. Eric Fong & Pui Kwan Man, 2023. "Income Differences of Chinese Sub-ethnic Groups in Canada," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(2), pages 1-27, April.
    10. Jackie M. L. Chan, 2014. "Assimilation of Hong Kong Immigrants in Canada," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(4), pages 439-465, October.
    11. Krishna Pendakur & Ravi Pendakur, 2015. "The Colour of Money Redux: Immigrant/Ethnic Earnings Disparity in Canada 1991– 2006," Discussion Papers dp15-13, Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University.
    12. Sweetman, Arthur & Warman, Casey, 2009. "Temporary Foreign Workers and Former International Students as a Source of Permanent Immigration," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2009-34, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 22 Jun 2009.
    13. Rupa Banerjee, 2008. "An Examination of Factors Affecting Perception of Workplace Discrimination," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 29(4), pages 380-401, December.
    14. Feng Hou & Yuqian Lu, 2017. "International students, immigration and earnings growth: the effect of a pre-immigration host-country university education," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-24, December.
    15. Tondji, Jean-Baptiste, 2015. "Wage of Immigrants in the Canadian Labour Market," MPRA Paper 80783, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Kristyn Frank & Kelli Phythian & David Walters & Paul Anisef, 2013. "Understanding the Economic Integration of Immigrants: A Wage Decomposition of the Earnings Disparities between Native-Born Canadians and Recent Immigrant Cohorts," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 2(2), pages 1-22, April.
    17. Michael Haan, 2008. "The Place of Place: Location and Immigrant Economic Well-being in Canada," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 27(6), pages 751-771, December.
    18. Hou, Feng, 2010. "Entry Earnings of Canada’s Immigrants over the Past Quarter Century: the Roles of Changing Characteristics and Returns to Skills," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2010-23, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 22 Jun 2010.
    19. Banerjee, Rupa & Verma, Anil, 2009. "Determinants and Effects of Post-Migration Education Among New Immigrants in Canada," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2009-20, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 11 Mar 2009.
    20. Hou, Feng & Picot, Garnett & Coulombe, Simon, 2007. "Le faible revenu chronique et la dynamique du faible revenu chez les nouveaux immigrants," Direction des études analytiques : documents de recherche 2007294f, Statistics Canada, Direction des études analytiques.

    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. Hou, Feng & Picot, Garnett, 2003. "The Rise in Low-income Rates Among Immigrants in Canada," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2003198e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    2. Derek Hum & Wayne Simpson, 2002. "Analysis of the Performance of Immigrant Wages Using Panel Data," 10th International Conference on Panel Data, Berlin, July 5-6, 2002 C2-1, International Conferences on Panel Data.
    3. Green, David A. & Worswick, Christopher, 2012. "Immigrant earnings profiles in the presence of human capital investment: Measuring cohort and macro effects," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 241-259.
    4. David A. Green & Christopher Worswick, 2017. "Canadian economics research on immigration through the lens of theories of justice," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 50(5), pages 1262-1303, December.
    5. James Ted Mcdonald & Christopher Worswick, 1999. "The Earnings of Immigrant Men in Australia: Assimilation, Cohort Effects, and Macroeconomic Conditions," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 75(1), pages 49-62, March.
    6. McBride, Stephan & Sweetman, Arthur, 2004. "Domaines d'etudes postsecondaires et resultats sur le marche du travail canadien des immigrants et des non-immigrants," Direction des études analytiques : documents de recherche 2004233f, Statistics Canada, Direction des études analytiques.
    7. Picot, Garnett & Sweetman, Arthur, 2005. "The Deteriorating Economic Welfare of Immigrants and Possible Causes: Update 2005," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2005262e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    8. McBride, Stephan & Sweetman, Arthur, 2004. "Postsecondary Field of Study and the Canadian Labour Market Outcomes of Immigrants and Non-immigrants," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2004233e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    9. Frenette, Marc, 2002. "Do the Falling Earnings of Immigrants Apply to Self-employed Immigrants?," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2002195e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    10. Michele Campolieti & Morley Gunderson & Olga Timofeeva & Evguenia Tsiroulnitchenko, 2013. "Immigrant Assimilation, Canada 1971–2006: Has the Tide Turned?," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 34(4), pages 455-475, December.
    11. Sweetman, Arthur, 2004. "Immigrant Source Country Educational Quality and Canadian Labour Market Outcomes," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2004234e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    12. Valentine Fays & Benoît Mahy & François Rycx, 2023. "Wage differences according to workers' origin: The role of working more upstream in GVCs," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 37(2), pages 319-342, June.
    13. Ana Ferrer & W. Craig Riddell, 2008. "Education, credentials, and immigrant earnings," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(1), pages 186-216, February.
    14. Michael Haan, 2008. "The Place of Place: Location and Immigrant Economic Well-being in Canada," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 27(6), pages 751-771, December.
    15. Marie C. Hull, 2023. "What divides the first and second generations? Family time of arrival and educational outcomes for immigrant youth," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 89(3), pages 754-787, January.
    16. Goldmann, Gustave & Sweetman, Arthur & Warman, Casey, 2009. "The Economic Return on New Immigrants' Human Capital: the Impact of Occupational Matching," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2009-30, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 22 Apr 2009.
    17. Smolny, Werner & Rieber, Alexander, 2016. "Labour market integration of immigrants - Evidence for the German guest workers," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145629, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    18. Fang, Tony & Samnani, Al-Karim & Novicevic, Milorad M. & Bing, Mark N., 2013. "Liability-of-foreignness effects on job success of immigrant job seekers," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 98-109.
    19. Casey Warman, 2007. "Ethnic enclaves and immigrant earnings growth," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 40(2), pages 401-422, May.
    20. Ilana Redstone Akresh, 2008. "Occupational Trajectories of Legal US Immigrants: Downgrading and Recovery," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 34(3), pages 435-456, September.

    More about this item

    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:cpp:issued:v:29:y:2003:i:3:p:319-337. 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: Iver Chong (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.utpjournals.press/loi/cpp .

    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.