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Intergenerational Transmission of Abilities and Self Selection of Mexican Immigrants

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  • Vincenzo Caponi

    (Ryerson University, IZA, RCEA)

Abstract

This paper presents an intergenerational model of self-selection of migration and education that is capable of explaining the evolution of earnings and education across three different generations of immigrants. By structurally estimating the model it is possible to quantify the human capital level of Mexicans in light of the self-sacrifice made by the first generation of Mexican immigrants. The results suggest that there is a significant one time loss of human capital faced by immigrants upon migration that is not transmitted to their children. Also parents with larger amounts of ability tend to migrate more and tend to choose to remain high school educated. However, given the better educational opportunities offered in the US, they migrate with the expectation of their children becoming college educated. Therefore, measures that rely on the earnings performance and educational attainment of immigrants underestimate the amount of human capital they bring into the host country.

Suggested Citation

  • Vincenzo Caponi, 2009. "Intergenerational Transmission of Abilities and Self Selection of Mexican Immigrants," 2009 Meeting Papers 1144, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:sed009:1144
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Why third generation immigrants earn less
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2009-11-27 21:59:00

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    3. Tanika Chakraborty & Manish Pandey, 2018. "Temporary International Migration and Shocks: Analysis using panel data," Departmental Working Papers 2018-03, The University of Winnipeg, Department of Economics.
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    7. Collins, William J. & Zimran, Ariell, 2019. "The economic assimilation of Irish Famine migrants to the United States," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
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    10. Maria Caridad Araujo & Karen Macours, 2021. "Education, Income and Mobility: Experimental Impacts of Childhood Exposure to Progresa after 20 Years," Working Papers halshs-03364972, HAL.
    11. Koutchadé, Philippe & Carpentier, Alain & Féménia, Fabienne, 2015. "Empirical modelling of production decisions of heterogeneous farmers with mixed models," 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California 205098, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    12. Koutchade, Philippe & Carpentier, Alain & Femenia, Fabienne, 2015. "Accounting for unobserved heterogeneity in micro-econometric agricultural production models: a random parameter approach," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 212015, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. Koutchade, Philippe & Carpentier, Alain & Féménia, Fabienne, 2015. "Empirical modeling of production decisions of heterogeneous farmers with random parameter models," Working Papers 210097, Institut National de la recherche Agronomique (INRA), Departement Sciences Sociales, Agriculture et Alimentation, Espace et Environnement (SAE2).
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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