Immigration policy and immigrant quality: empirical evidence from Canada

This paper examines the earnings of foreign-born and native-born men in an attempt to evaluate whether the decline in the quality of Canadian immigrants is related to changes in the country-of-origin mix and the class (type) mix of immigrants. Based on a human capital interpretation, higher quality immigrants are defined as immigrants who have smaller on-entry earnings differentials and have earnings that grow at a faster rate (relative to native-born Canadians). The analysis consists of two parts. The first part is based on individual data on earnings and socio-economic characteristics collected in the 1971 and 1986 Canadian Censuses. Earnings equations are estimated for 16 country-of-origin immigrant groups. These regressions are then used to construct a cohort-specific measure of immigrant quality based on the earnings differential between foreign-born and native-born Canadians. In the second part of the analysis, additional regression equations are estimated, pertaining to the period 1968 to 1985, that relate these Census-based measures of immigrant quality to the country-of-origin and class mix of immigrants. In this analysis, unpublished data, supplied by theDepartment of Employment and Immigration, describing the distribution of immigrants across the three main immigrant classes is used. Overall, the analysis confirms that there has been a sharp secular decline in the quality of Canadian immigrants and suggests that it is related to changes in both the country-of-origin and class mix of immigrants.Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the meetings of the Canadian Economics Association and the European Society for Population Economics. The comments of Martin Browning, John Ermisch and two anonymous referees are gratefully acknowledged. Of course, all remaining errors and shortcomings are the sole responsibility of the authors.     

Immigration and income security policies in Canada: Implications for elderly immigrant women

Reflecting past and present immigration policies, nearly one in three of Canada's elderly are foreign born. Yet, under the regulations associated with income security programs targeted at the elderly, part of the foreign born population may be ineligible for benefits or may receive reduced benefits. Following a discussion of immigration and income security policies, the paper focuses on the economic status of elderly immigrant women living in CMAs and on the social policy issues which result.     

Immigration, ethnicity and voluntary association membership in Canada: Individual and contextual effects

Using multilevel models fitted to data collected by Statistics Canada and the Canadian Census, this paper assesses the individual and contextual influences of immigration and ethnicity on voluntary association membership. Our analysis is unique in two ways: (1) we explore the effects of both immigrant status and ethnicity at the individual level, and (2) we assess the role of both the immigrant population and the visible minority population at the community level. Our results demonstrate that the probability of holding an association membership increases as the time since immigration passes. We also find ethnic differences in the probability of membership, though these differences have little to do with visible minority group status. On the other hand, the contextual effects of immigration and visible minorities stand in contrast to these individual-level effects. More specifically, the probability of membership tends to be largest in communities with many immigrants but smallest in communities with many visible minorities. Consistent with Putnam's constrict thesis, these contextual effects operate in a similar manner for immigrants and native born citizens. We conclude with a discussion of the policy implications of these findings.     

Immigration policies and trends: A comparison of Canada and the United States

This paper discusses recent migration to North America with reference to the 1962 and 1967 Canadian immigration regulations and the 1965 United States Immigration and Nationality Act. Despite the similar emphasis on manpower and kinship criteria as the basis for the admission of immigrants, differences between Canada and the United States exist with respect to the importance of immigration for the respective economies, the organization of immigration, the formal regulations, and the size and composition of migrant streams. After an examination of the volume, origin, and occupational composition of immigration to Canada and the United States, flows between the two countries are studied. The paper concludes with a scrutiny of changes in immigration regulations which are pending in both countries.     

Temporary Employment and Social Inequality in Canada: Exploring Intersections of Gender, Race and Immigration Status

Using data from the 2002–2004 waves of Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics, this article investigates the consequences of different types of temporary employment—fixed-term or contract, casual, agency and seasonal employment—for differently situated workers in Canada. Attention to intersecting social locations of gender, race and immigrant status helps capture the complex implications of temporary work for inequality. In particular, it highlights the salience of gender relations in shaping workers’ experience of insecurity in different types of temporary employment.

Long‐Term Contribution of Immigration to Population Renewal in Canada: A Simulation

We analyze the direct and indirect demographic contribution of immigration to the foreign‐origin composition of the Canadian population according to various projection scenarios over a century, from 2006 to 2106. More specifically, we use Statistics Canada's Demosim microsimulation model to assess the long‐term sensitivity to immigration levels and the frequency of mixed unions of the share of immigrants in Canada and of persons who have at least one ancestor who arrived after 2006. The results of the simulations show that the population renewal process through immigration happens at a fast pace in a high immigration and low fertility country such as Canada. Under the scenarios developed, immigrants who entered after 2006 and their descendants could form the majority of the population by 2058 at the earliest and by 2079 at the latest and could represent between 62 percent and 88 percent in 2106. They also show that mixed unions are a key element of the speed at which the changes are likely to occur in the long run.     

Stochastic indicators of occupational mobility,Canada: 1951–1961

Though various studies on spatial mobility are available, little is known about occupational mobility in Canada. This study is concerned with the estimation of Canadian occupational mobility from aggregate census data. The process of occupational mobility is characterized as a stationary Markov chain and certain meaningful conditions are imposed on the transition probabilities to convert the estimation strategy into a linear programming problem. Cross-section data for 1951 and 1961 are employed for estimation purposes. The study reveals that in 1951–61, the Canadian females had higher rates of mobility than the males.     

Immigration and ageing

Journal of Population Research - Contrary to popular belief, the low rates of institutionalisation of the ethnic minority aged cannot be explained by a greater availability of family support for...     

Mobility where mobility is illegal: internal migration and city growth in the Soviet Union

This paper examines an important anomaly in the internal migration history of the former Soviet Union (FSU). While many cities were closed in the sense of explicitly limiting growth of city population from migration, it was difficult to assess the effectiveness of these controls. We analyze a sample of 308 Soviet cities to isolate the impact of closure regulations controlling for city size. We find that while there are pervasive patterns of city growth, the rate increasing through the 1960s and declining thereafter, there are also pervasive differences between controlled and uncontrolled cities, the later growing significantly faster in almost all cases, controlling for city size. Received: 17 July 1997/Accepted: 16 March 1998     

Nation Building and Immigration

Journal of Population Research -     

Immigration and product diversity

We study the effects of immigration on the diversity of consumption choices. Data from California in the 1990s indicate that immigration is associated with fewer stand-alone retail stores and a greater number of large and in particular big-box retailers—evidence that likely contradicts a diversity-enhancing effect of immigration. In contrast, focusing on the restaurant sector for which we can better identify the types of products consumed by customers, we find that immigration is associated with increased ethnic diversity of restaurants. This latter effect appears to come in part from the comparative advantage of immigrants in the production of ethnic goods.     

Monkey bars and ladders: The importance of lateral and vertical job mobility in internal labor market careers

This paper compares results from the empirical literature on internal labor markets with outcomes from analyzing personnel data of the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It sheds light on differences in the functioning of internal labor markets between periods of workforce growth and decline. Despite substantial variation in individual wages, careers are important as wages are strongly related to job levels. Promotion rates fall and demotion rates rise when the firm enters the stage of demise. Vertical and lateral job mobility are important in internal labor market careers as they stimulate wage growth and reduce the lay-off risk.     

Immigration and the American century

The full impact of immigration on American society is obscured in policy and academic analyses that focus on the short-term problems of immigrant adjustment. With a longer-term perspective, which includes the socioeconomic roles of the children of immigrants, immigration appears as one of the defining characteristics of twentieth-century America. Major waves of immigration create population diversity with new languages and cultures, but over time, while immigrants and their descendants become more "American," the character of American society and culture is transformed. In the early decades of the twentieth century, immigrants and their children were the majority of the workforce in many of the largest industrial cities; in recent decades, the arrival of immigrants and their families has slowed the demographic and economic decline of some American cities. The presence of immigrants probably creates as many jobs for native-born workers as are lost through displacement. Immigrants and their children played an important role in twentieth-century American politics and were influential in the development of American popular culture during the middle decades of the twentieth century. Intermarriage between the descendants of immigrants and old-stock Americans fosters a national identity based on civic participation rather than ancestry.     

Immigration,assimilation and growth

This paper analyzes the welfare effects of immigration and its subsequent effect on ethnic diversity in a model featuring human capital spillovers which depend on the degree of ethnic heterogeneity, variation rates of time preference across individuals and endogenous levels of immigration and assimilation. In the model, an increase in ethnic diversity reduces the spillovers effect for the majority. Nonetheless, immigration can be welfare improving for the majority ethnic group even if it increases the degree of diversity as long as it raises the average human capital level and/or growth rate by increasing the proportion of people with low rates of time preference. However, if an economy is too homogenous, it will not be able to attract immigrants. Finally, if the level of immigration is not too high, then immigration also raises the net benefits to assimilation which leads to a more homogenous economy. Received: 18 February 1997 / Accepted: 16 July 1997     

Immigration and county employment growth

Prior literature has found that immigrants have no effect on the wages and employment of natives. However, this literature has not accounted for the possibility that immigrants contribute to employment growth in the areas where they locate. Research on internal migration has found that internal migrants contribute to local area employment growth. In this paper I compare the effects of natives and immigrants on county employment. Results show that the overall immigrant population contributes more to increases in employment than the overall native population. Recent immigrants and recent internal in-movers have similar effects on employment growth. The net contribution of immigrants to employment growth is confined to nonmanufacturing employment.     

Immigration cohorts and residential overcrowding in southern California

To what degree do immigrants reduce their high rates of residential overcrowding with increasing length of residence in the United States? This question is addressed through the application of a “double cohort” method that nests birth cohorts within immigration cohorts. This method enables duration of immigration effects to be separated from aging effects as cohorts pass through life course phases, when family sizes may be growing or shrinking. The analysis finds that cohort trends differ sharply from the cross-sectional pattern observed at a single point in time. Cohorts’ growth in income is found to contribute substantially to the decline in overcrowding over time. Cohort trends among Hispanic immigrants, however, diverge from those among others, indicating much less decrease in overcrowding and even increases over certain age spans.     

Demographic Change and Immigration in Age-structured Epidemic Models

Immigration might be a remedy against the stress that low fertility causes to demographic and welfare systems. Sustained immigration, however, can alter both the demographic and epidemiological profiles of the receiving population. An age-structured SIR (susceptible-infective-recovered) model with realistic immigration under conditions of below replacement fertility is studied. Equilibria and threshold phenomena are characterized. The immigration profile and the epidemiological features of immigrants affect the reproduction number and the force of infection in the receiving population. Finally, an illustration is given, showing the potential effects of immigration for rubella control in Italy, by considering how the age profile of immigration influences the reproduction number of the disease.     

Immigration and the stable population model

This paper reports on work aimed at extending stable population theory to include immigration. Its central finding is that, as long as fertility is below replacement, a constant number and age distribution of immigrants (with fixed fertility and mortality schedules) lead to a stationary population. Neither the level of the net reproduction rate nor the size of the annual immigration affects this conclusion; a stationary population eventually emerges. How this stationary population is created is studied, as is the generational distribution of the constant annual stream of births and of the total population. It is also shown that immigrants and their early descendants may have fertility well above replacement (as long as later generations adopt and maintain fertility below replacement), and the outcome will still be a long-run stationary population.