Cross‐Border Earnings of U.S. Natives Along the U.S.‐Mexico Border*

Objective. This study explores whether the earnings of U.S.‐born cross‐border workers differ from those of their U.S.‐employed counterparts. We also analyze whether the cross‐border/non‐cross‐border wage differential changed during the 1990s—a decade when U.S.‐Mexico trade intensified and the maquiladora industry expanded. Methods. Employing decennial U.S. Census data from 1990 and 2000, this article estimates earnings functions and uses wage decomposition analysis to study changes in the earnings of U.S.‐born Hispanic and non‐Hispanic cross‐border workers. Results. The number of U.S.‐native cross‐border workers, while relatively small, increased significantly between 1990 and 2000, as did their earnings. A closer examination reveals that this cross‐border earnings premium only developed among non‐Hispanics. Conclusions. These findings indicate that some U.S. natives find lucrative employment opportunities on the Mexican side of the border, which might be diminished by additional restrictions for U.S.‐born residents to easily cross back and forth into Mexico.     

Hispanic Ethnicity,Gender, and the Change in the LEP‐Earnings Penalty in the United States During the 1990s*

Objective. Although studies suggest that the earnings of limited‐English‐proficient (LEP) Hispanic men have recently improved relative to the English fluent, it remains unclear as to whether specific Hispanic groups experienced similar improvements. Methods. Using 1990 and 2000 U.S. Census data, this study employs regression, wage decomposition, and quantile regression analyses to examine how gender and Hispanic ethnicity relate to the LEP‐earnings penalty. Results. The LEP‐earnings penalty fell significantly for Mexican‐American men between 1990 and 2000. However, additional results suggest that this penalty increased for Cuban‐American men and women (and, to a lesser extent, for Mexican‐American women). Conclusions. Expanding trade and ethnic networks as well as reduced statistical discrimination have not systematically benefited all LEP Hispanic populations. Therefore, policies designed to enhance English‐language proficiency may yield heterogeneous socioeconomic outcomes along the ethnic, gender, and income class dimensions.     

Are Naturalized Voters Driving the California Latino Electorate? Measuring the Effect of IRCA Citizens on Latino Voting*

Objectives. The 1990s witnessed the growth and maturation of the Latino electorate in California and many scholars have posited as to the reasons. One argument is that naturalizations by way of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) drove the increases in Latino participation. In this article we investigate the extent to which this is the case. Methods. Using unpublished INS data, we offer the first empirical test of the IRCA theory by examining Latino IRCA petitions by zipcode to determine whether or not IRCA legalizations and subsequent naturalizations were the force behind increased Latino turnout, and the overall growth of the Latino vote. We merge IRCA data with Registrar of Voter data to examine real growth in the Latino vote at the zipcode level from 1996–2000 in southern California. Results. Although Latino voting grew substantially, we find that IRCA naturalizations did not spur the increases in Latino voting in the 1990s as some have expected. Instead, demographic and mobilization variables explain why the Latino vote grew between 1996 and 2000. Conclusions. As Congress debates new proposals to “legalize” the millions of undocumented immigrants living and working in this country, many will inevitably ask what impact their citizenship will have on the electorate. This study sheds some light on the relationship between amnesty programs, citizenship, and voting among Latinos.     

农民工的就业与工资决定：教育与培训的重要性

在城市劳动力市场上,农村劳动力根据个人的人力资本积累状况和当地的劳动力市场条件,在成为自我经营者和工资收入者之间进行就业选择。简单的Mincer工资方程回归结果显示,工资收入者比自我经营者的教育回报率高出2个百分点左右。在矫正了样本选择偏差之后,拓展的Mincer工资方程对工资收入者的教育回报率估计结果在5.3%-6.8%之间。从培训角度看,简单培训、短期培训和正规培训对农民工再流动都有显著作用,但简单培训对农民工的工资收入作用不显著,而短期培训和正规培训则对其工资收入有着重要的决定作用。此外,工资拖欠等权益保护问题也对农村劳动力再流动有重要影响。在处理农民工的个人异质性和教育内生性问题时,本文还发现父母受教育年限不是一个理想工具变量。     

Labor Market Outcomes for Legal Mexican Immigrants Under the New Regime of Immigration Enforcement

OBJECTIVES: This paper documents the effects of increasingly restrictive immigration and border policies on Mexican migrant workers in the United States. METHODS: Drawing on data from the Mexican Migration Project we create a data file that links age, education, English language ability, and cumulative U.S. experience in three legal categories (documented, undocumented, guest worker) to the occupational status and wage attained by migrant household heads on their most recent U.S. trip. RESULTS: We find that the wage and occupational returns to various forms of human capital generally declined after harsher policies were imposed and enforcement dramatically increased after 1996, especially for U.S. experience and English language ability. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that the labor market status of legal immigrants has deteriorated significantly in recent years as larger shares of the migrant workforce came to lack labor rights, either because they were undocumented or because they held temporary visas that did not allow mobility or bargaining over wages and working conditions.     

Impact of enforcing a statutory minimum wage on work and quality of life of vulnerable groups in Hong Kong

The statutory minimum wage (SMW) law was enforced in Hong Kong on 1 May 2011. To examine its impact, this longitudinal study measured the quality of life, job and pay satisfaction, monthly income, hourly rate and working hours of vulnerable groups (n = 253) before and after the legislation. The findings confirmed that the enforcement of the SMW induced a positive impact as intended. The introduction of the SMW induced a positive wage and employment effect on the vulnerable groups in Hong Kong without harming their employment rate. Job and pay satisfaction, as well as most domains of the quality of life (i.e., physical and psychological health, and environment), increased significantly. In general, the positive impact of the SMW was more prominent for employees who previously worked less than 18 hours a week and who had hourly rates less than 28 HKD. The implications of the findings are discussed in the social context of Hong Kong. Key Practitioner Message: ● Enforcing minimum wage induced a positive impact on quality of life, job and pay satisfaction, and a monthly income of vulnerable groups. ● The social relations (quality of life) decreased after implementing minimum wage for workers working longer than 18 hours a week. ● Longer working hours is a key factor for the increase of a monthly income among the vulnerable groups.     

The Obese Smoker's Wage Penalty*

Objective. Smoking and obesity are associated with significant wage penalties when considered separately. We assess the combined effects of those behaviors. Methods. We estimate the effects of smoking and obesity on wages using multivariate regression analysis with 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data. Results. The raw data indicate that obese smokers experience large earnings penalties. However, these penalties are not found to be interactive or directly causal for most of the demographic subgroups we examine. One exception is the wage penalty associated with obesity for females, which remains significant throughout the analysis. Conclusions. In the absence of a demonstrable direct causal effect of those behaviors on wages, associated individual‐specific socioeconomic factors appear to be the driving forces behind the obese smoker wage penalty. Not included, but potentially significant, are the effects of employer and customer discrimination against obese smokers and the possible labor policy implications of such discrimination.     

A longitudinal examination of earnings inequality and mobility among young, full-time workers in the United States

This paper analyzes longitudinal data on earnings inequality and mobility for young, year-round full-time wage and salary workers in the United States. In general, we find that although real earnings across quintiles increased during the 1990s, earnings inequality continued to grow and upward earnings mobility declined slightly during the decade.     

Integrating citizen's income with social insurance

Citizen's income or social dividend schemes are a way of avoiding the "poverty trap", or disincentive effect, inherent in withdrawing unemployment compensation completely when the beneficiary returns to work. If there are inadequate financial incentives for the unemployed to return to work, the benefit administration may feel the need for tighter discipline of the unemployed, threatening to withdraw benefit from those who reject offers of low-paid work. Citizen's income provides better incentives to work without so much need for sanctions. The article explores four different methods of introducing a citizen's income gradually by allowing people to keep an increasing proportion of their benefit as they move from unemployment into work. New transfers would also be made to never-unemployed workers, to secure equity between all persons whatever their employment status or history. The best method is to define an hourly unemployment benefit, and make benefit for a certain number of hours unconditional on employment status. This gives better incentives to work part-time than existing benefit systems, and fairer treatment for those who can only find a part-time job. Minimum wage regulation is important, to prevent employers taking advantage of a citizen's income to reduce wage rates.     

Collective bargaining levels,employment and wage inequality in Spain

After the increase in inequalities following the Great Recession, studies on wage bargaining systems have increasingly focused on wage inequality. This research examines wage inequality associated with collective bargaining levels in Spain, based on matched employer–employee microdata and quantile regression methods. These methods are applied across the wage distribution, following the method proposed by Firpo et al. (2011), to estimate wage premiums associated with agreement levels and to decompose the wage differentials observed at different points of the wage distribution. From the evidence obtained it can be concluded that, although the higher wages found in firm-level agreements are explained by the better observed characteristics of firms and workers covered by these collective agreements, there remains a positive wage premium. Although this premium is seen throughout the wage distribution, it favours mostly workers in the middle and upper-middle end. This slightly increases wage inequality in comparison with sectoral agreements. In contrast, workers without collective bargaining coverage generally suffer a wage penalty. This penalty is only observed on the left of the wage distribution. It becomes a significant wage premium in the upper end of the distribution, which implies a significant increase in wage inequality. In short, the evidence of this research suggests that reducing the coverage of collective bargaining could be associated with a significant increase in wage inequality. A better policy option for countries with a predominant sectoral model, such as Spain, would be to move towards an organized decentralization model. This would cause significant gains in employment as suggested by OECD (2019) and only a slight increase in wage inequality.     

Applying a Community Violence Framework to Understand the Impact of Immigration Enforcement Threat on Latino Children

Heeding the call put out by the New England Journal of Medicine (2017), we utilize an ecological–transactional model as a conceptual framework for understanding existing literature and for guiding future research on immigration enforcement threat and Latino child development. Using the World Health Organization's definition of violence, we draw on literature from psychology, medicine, social work, and developmental psychology to outline how the anti-immigrant climate in the United States and the threat of immigration enforcement practices in everyday spaces are experienced by some Latino children as psychological violence. Researchers, teachers, and practitioners are encouraged to be aware of how uncertainty and threat regarding familial safety adversely impacts the lives of Latino children in immigrant households, especially in charged, anti-immigrant climates.     

Training and the Earnings of Immigrant Males: Evidence from the Canadian Workplace and Employee Survey*

Objective. To improve on the existing research on earnings differentials between visible minority immigrants and the native‐born, and on the role of discrimination in producing that difference. To do this we introduce into the analysis: (1) access to training and (2) training effects on earnings growth. Method. Using a panel data set containing information on training we test cross‐sectional models of access to training, cross‐sectional models of wage determination, and panel models of wage growth. Results. Visible minority immigrants are disadvantaged in both access to training and earnings; education reduces the disadvantage; and they do better than the other two groups in wage growth. Conclusions. Some results are consistent with a discrimination interpretation but, considered together, the complete sets of results are difficult to reconcile with any relatively straightforward discrimination account.     

Market Transition and Gender Segregation in Urban China*

Objectives. This article analyzes the impact of the new form of economic segmentation, which emerged in urban China during the market transition, on gender segregation and earnings differentials. Methods. I compare both over‐time and across‐city change in gender segregation, and use a series of multi‐level cross‐classified models based on data at three levels: a 1995 national sample of individual workers, industry‐sector data for 1990 and 1995, and city‐level data for 1995. Results. Gender segregation by ownership sector has declined over time now that the state sector has become differentiated and its relative economic advantages wanes. Both earnings differentiation and gender segregation among industries have increased with marketization. In the most marketized cities, the earnings of workers of both sexes in jobs with high rates of female entry are penalized, indicating that marketization exacerbated the negative effect of job feminization on earnings. Conclusions. These findings lend support for the “queuing” perspective that a decline in jobs' relative wages leads to feminization. The making of the Chinese market economy has created a new set of institutional arrangements, which includes that between job feminization and wages.     

Factors Influencing Migrant Workers' Employment and Earnings—The Role of Education and Training

在城市劳动力市场上,农村劳动力根据个人的人力资本积累状况和当地的劳动力 市场条件,在成为自我经营者和工资收入者之间进行就业选择。简单的Mincer工资方 程回归结果显示,工资收入者比自我经营者的教育回报率高出2个百分点左右。在矫 正了样本选择偏差之后,拓展的Mincer工资方程对工资收入者的教育回报率估计结果 在5.3%-6.8%之间。从培训角度看,简单培训、短期培训和正规培训对农民工再流动 都有显著作用,但简单培训对农民工的工资收入作用不显著,而短期培训和正规培训 则对其工资收入有着重要的决定作用。此外,工资拖欠等权益保护问题也对农村劳动 力再流动有重要影响。在处理农民工的个人异质性和教育内生性问题时,本文还发现 父母受教育年限不是一个理想工具变量。

关键词: 农民工?就业选择?再流动?教育与培训的回报率?处理效应模型

In the urban labor market, the rural labor force can choose whether to become self‐employed or work for wages depending on their stock of human capital and local labor market conditions. A simple Mincer earnings regression shows that the rate of return to schooling for wage earners is two percentage points higher than that for the self‐employed. After correcting for bias in sample selection, the expanded Mincer earnings equation estimated the rate of return to schooling for wage earners at between 5.3 and 6.8 percent. From the standpoint of training, we found that the simplest form of training, short‐term training and formal training played an important role in promoting migrant workers' repeat mobility. However, the simplest form of training did not have a significant effect on earnings, whereas short‐term and formal training played an important determining role in this respect. Moreover, rights protection issues such as wage arrears also had an important effect on migrant workers' repeat mobility. In handling heterogeneity and endogenous educational variables among migrant workers, the authors found that the years of schooling of the parents of migrant workers were not an ideal instrumental variable.     

Are there rewards for language skills? Evidence from the earnings of registered nurses

The existing empirical evidence on whether U.S. labor markets reward workers for second-language skills is meager and conflicting. Employing data from the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses in 2000 and 2004, this study reexamines the positive bilingual–earnings relationship found in the most current research on this topic. We test the relationship using alternative models that explain the wages earned by nurses. The advantage of this approach is that it permits an assessment of how sensitive the results are to changes in the variables used in the model. We find the evidence of a positive bilingual effect on earnings to be mixed. The relationship is sufficiently frail that statistically significant results eventually dissolve as more precise occupational characteristics are included in the wage equation. Moreover, using more current data, we find no evidence of a wage premium paid to nurses for second-language skills. We offer possible explanations for this lack of evidence within this specific occupation.     

The determinants of living wage rates

Several cities have recently adopted living wage ordinances which mandate that firms contracting with the city pay their workers an hourly wage at or above the legislated “living wage rate” set by the city. Following the literature on minimum wage rate determination, I explore factors influencing living wage rates. Using a sample of 39 cities, the results show that living wage rates are particularly sensitive to per capita income, fair-market rent, the minimum wage rate, the proximity of the city to other living wage cities, and the year that the city adopted the living wage ordinance.     

Workplace Conditions and Employer Relationships as Predictors of Economic Well‐Being: Female Domestic Workers in India

This article explores the intersectional role played by the various categories of workplace dynamics of female domestic workers in India. It models crucial aspects of a range of workplace conditions and employee‐employer relationship and empowerment factors, as predictors of the economic well‐being of domestic workers. The analysis is based on a questionnaire survey of 487 domestic workers in two cities of the Indian state of Karnataka, conducted July–December 2014. The prediction models reveal intersectionality: female domestic workers are disadvantaged by inequalities caused by two unique aspects of their work, namely, the feminization of this work as naturalized labor that women do because of their innate caring characteristics, and the employer‐employee relationship where the focus of work is the intimate private space of the employer. Empowerment factors, therefore, become additionally significant for their protection from exploitation and abuse. This paper highlights the conflicting role played by empowerment and concludes by discussing implications for legislation and policy.     

Mexican Immigrant Self‐Employment Along the U.S.‐Mexico Border: An Analysis of 2000 Census Data*

Objective. This study explores the entrepreneurial tendencies of Mexican immigrants in metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) on the U.S. side of the Mexican border vis‐à‐vis the U.S. interior. Methods. Using 2000 Census data available in the 5% Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, we empirically analyze the self‐employment rates and earnings of Mexican immigrants residing in U.S. cities near Mexico versus those in nonborder MSAs. Results. Our findings indicate that Mexican immigrants in MSAs along the U.S.‐Mexico border have significantly higher self‐employment rates (but lower earnings) than their counterparts in the rest of the United States and non‐Hispanic whites in border cities. Explanations for these findings include the existence of trade opportunities in U.S. border cities as well as intense labor market competition that crowds a greater share of immigrants into self‐employment. Conclusion. Immigration reform that curtails the immigration flow from Mexico might hinder small business formation and economic development on the U.S. side of the Mexican border.     

Coping with Low Pay: Cognitive Dissonance and Persistent Disparate Earnings Profiles

The paper focuses on an employee’s perception of his or her own labour market outcome. It proposes that the basic earnings function, by adopting an approach that ignores perception effects, is likely to result in biased results that will fail to understand the complexities of the wage distribution. The paper uses an orthodox job search framework to illustrate the nature of this problem and then adapts the model to take onboard the theory of cognitive dissonance. The search model indicates how workers may adopt a coping strategy in order to reduce the disutility associated with the wage underpayment that develops. Then, by modelling cognitive dissonance, the paper highlights the weaknesses of using purely human capital proxies to understand labour market outcome. The analysis goes some way to explaining why individuals with equivalent human capital investment can have disparate earnings profiles.     

The mental health status of Latino children in the public child welfare system: a look at the role of generation and origin

As the number of Latino children in public child welfare continues to grow, it is necessary to understand how their mental health is faring. The paper examines emotional and behavioural needs among Latino children who had contact with the public child welfare system. The purpose of this longitudinal study was twofold: to examine the severity of emotional and behavioural problems, and to assess the predictive role of generation status and Latino origin. Latent growth models were completed using the National Survey on Children and Adolescent Well‐Being. The predictive model for the externalizing CBCL scale revealed that generation status and Latino origin were significant predictors. At baseline, Puerto Rican children exhibited higher rates of externalizing problems compared with Mexican children. Over time children who were first/second generation tended to have lower scores compared with the third‐plus generation children. Implications for practise are discussed.