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Migration to the US and Marital Mobility

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  • Rebekka Christopoulou
  • Dean R. Lillard

Abstract

We combine survey data on British and German immigrants in the US with data on natives in Britain and Germany to estimate the causal effect of migration on educational mobility through cross-national marriage. To control for selective mating, we instrument educational attainment using government spending on education in the years each person was of school-age. To control for selective migration, we instrument the migration decision using inflows of immigrants to the US during puberty and early adulthood. We find that migration causes men to marry up and women to marry down, but self-selection into migration and marriage dampens down these effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Rebekka Christopoulou & Dean R. Lillard, 2013. "Migration to the US and Marital Mobility," NBER Working Papers 19495, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19495
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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