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What Can We Learn about Financial Access from U.S. Immigrants?

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  • Una Okonkwo Osili
  • Anna Paulson

Abstract

We find that wealthier and more educated immigrants are more likely to make use of basic banking services and other formal financial services. Holding these (and other) factors constant, we find immigrants from countries with more effective institutions are more likely to have a relationship with a bank and use formal financial markets more extensively. The impact of institutional quality affects all immigrant groups except those who have been in the United States for more than 28 years. In addition institutional quality affects all immigrants, regardless of how old they were when they migrated to the United States These findings are robust to alternative measures of institutional effectiveness and to controlling for unobserved individual characteristics.

Suggested Citation

  • Una Okonkwo Osili & Anna Paulson, 2008. "What Can We Learn about Financial Access from U.S. Immigrants?," NFI Working Papers 2008-WP-05, Indiana State University, Scott College of Business, Networks Financial Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:nfi:nfiwps:2008-wp-05
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    financial access; institutions; financial market participation; immigrants;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions

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