How Do Immigrants from Taiwan Fare in the U.S. Labor Market?

This paper presents evidence that since 1980, relative to other immigrants, the earnings of Taiwanese immigrants have grown rapidly as they assimilate into the U.S. economy. Our estimates indicate that the rising returns to education, pre-migration experience and hours worked per week play pivotal roles for their relatively successful economic assimilation. We investigate the earnings differentials, finding that the growing gap can be largely explained by differences in individual's endowments – of which more than two-thirds can be solely attributed to education. We show that more recently arrival cohorts of Taiwanese immigrants have earned more than the older ones since 1980.