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How Do Immigrants From Taiwan Fare In The U.S. Labor Market?

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  • CARL LIN

    (Department of Economics, Bucknell University, 1 Dent Drive, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania 17837, USA2Business School, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China3Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn, Germany)

Abstract

This paper presents evidence that since 1980, relative to native-born Americans and other immigrants, the earnings of Taiwanese immigrants have grown rapidly as they assimilate into the U.S. economy. Consistent with the existing U.S. evidence, I show that most of the immigrant–native earnings gaps can be explained by endowments, and the importance of endowments continues to increase. The estimates indicate that the improved endowments from education and U.S. experience, along with rising returns to both factors, largely explain Taiwanese immigrants’ economic assimilation experience. I show that more recently arrival cohorts of Taiwanese immigrants have earned more than the older ones since 1980.

Suggested Citation

  • Carl Lin, 2016. "How Do Immigrants From Taiwan Fare In The U.S. Labor Market?," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 61(05), pages 1-38, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:wsi:serxxx:v:61:y:2016:i:05:n:s0217590815500575
    DOI: 10.1142/S0217590815500575
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Taiwan; immigration; economic assimilation; earnings gap; decomposition; cohort effect; aging effect;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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