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Ethnic Attrition and the Observed Health of Later-Generation Mexican Americans

Author

Listed:
  • Antman, Francisca M.

    (University of Colorado, Boulder)

  • Duncan, Brian

    (University of Colorado Denver)

  • Trejo, Stephen J.

    (University of Texas at Austin)

Abstract

Numerous studies find that U.S.-born Hispanics differ significantly from non-Hispanic whites on important measures of human capital, including health. Nevertheless, almost all studies rely on subjective measures of ethnic self-identification to identify immigrants' U.S.-born descendants. This can lead to bias due to "ethnic attrition," which occurs whenever a U.S.-born descendant of a Hispanic immigrant fails to self-identify as Hispanic. This paper shows that Mexican American ethnic attritors are generally more likely to display health outcomes closer to those of non-Hispanic whites. This biases conventional estimates of Mexican American health away from suggesting patterns of assimilation and convergence with non-Hispanic whites.

Suggested Citation

  • Antman, Francisca M. & Duncan, Brian & Trejo, Stephen J., 2016. "Ethnic Attrition and the Observed Health of Later-Generation Mexican Americans," IZA Discussion Papers 10062, IZA Network @ LISER.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10062
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Brian Duncan & Stephen J. Trejo, 2011. "Intermarriage and the Intergenerational Transmission of Ethnic Identity and Human Capital for Mexican Americans," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 29(2), pages 195-227.
    2. Heather Antecol & Kelly Bedard, 2006. "Unhealthy assimilation: Why do immigrants converge to American health status levels?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 43(2), pages 337-360, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Francisca M. Antman & Brian Duncan & Stephen J. Trejo, 2023. "Hispanic Americans in the Labor Market: Patterns over Time and across Generations," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 37(1), pages 169-198, Winter.
    2. Francisca M. Antman & Brian Duncan & Stephen J. Trejo, 2020. "Ethnic attrition, assimilation, and the measured health outcomes of Mexican Americans," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(4), pages 1499-1522, October.
    3. Rademakers, Robbert & van Hoorn, André, 2022. "How Racial Measures Affect the Estimation of Racial Inequality," MPRA Paper 121770, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Bertoli, Simone & Clerc, Melchior & Loper, Jordan & Roca Fernández, Èric, 2025. "Migration and the epidemiological approach: Time and self-selection into foreign ancestries matter," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    5. Catherine Garcia & Marc A. Garcia & Jennifer Ailshire, 2018. "Sociocultural variability in the Latino population: Age patterns and differences in morbidity among older US adults," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 38(52), pages 1605-1618.
    6. Francisca M. Antman & Kalena E. Cortes, 2023. "The Long-Run Impacts of Mexican American School Desegregation," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 61(3), pages 888-905, September.
    7. Tianyuan Luo & Cesar L. Escalante, 2021. "Stringent immigration enforcement and the mental health and health‐risk behaviors of Hispanic adolescent students in Arizona," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(1), pages 86-103, January.

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    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality

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