IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jhouse/v68y2025ics1051137725000269.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Language proficiency and homeownership: Evidence from U.S. immigrants

Author

Listed:
  • Luik, Marc-André
  • Steinhardt, Max Friedrich
  • Voss, Simon

Abstract

In this paper, we deliver the first causal evidence on the relationship between immigrant host-country language proficiency and homeownership. Using an instrumental variable strategy, we find a substantial positive impact of language skills on the propensity to own a home and the quality of housing among immigrants in the United States. While this effect is mediated by household income, our estimates also speak in favor of a direct language effect. Suggestive evidence further indicates that part of this effect may be driven by discrimination. Our results highlight the importance of host-country-specific human capital and, in particular, language proficiency for socio-economic assimilation in housing markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Luik, Marc-André & Steinhardt, Max Friedrich & Voss, Simon, 2025. "Language proficiency and homeownership: Evidence from U.S. immigrants," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhouse:v:68:y:2025:i:c:s1051137725000269
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhe.2025.102067
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1051137725000269
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jhe.2025.102067?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
    ---><---

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

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Housing; Homeownership; Language; Immigrants; Assimilation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • R21 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

    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:eee:jhouse:v:68:y:2025:i:c:s1051137725000269. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622881 .

    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.