US and them: Job quality differences between natives and immigrants in Europe

Using microdata from the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) and aggregate indicators of labour market institutions, this article compares the job quality of native and non-native workers across European countries and analyses the impact of the institutional settings on the job quality differential between both groups. The LFS is used to measure a job quality index for the period 2005–2017. We find that some immigrant groups fare worse than natives, the contribution of the “composition effect” to explain this differential is large, and the institutional framework affects the immigration gap in job quality. In particular, some labour market institutions (more centralized wage bargaining, stricter employment protection legislation) tend to be detrimental for immigrants relative to natives, while integration policies seem to work well in reducing these differences.     

Assimilation effects beyond the labor market: time allocations of Mexican immigrants to the US

I use the American Time Use Survey from 2003 to 2012 to analyze, from a gender and marital status perspective, how the time Mexican immigrants devote to market work, household production, personal care, and leisure activities compare to the corresponding time allocations of US natives. Furthermore, I estimate the effect of duration of residence in the US on the immigrants overall patterns of time use. Time diary evidence indicates that, upon arrival to the US, Mexican immigrant men devote more time to market work and commuting than comparable non-Hispanic natives, regardless of their marital status. On the other hand, Mexican immigrant women devote the same amount of time to these activities as the non-Hispanic reference groups, irrespective of the marital status. In addition, the trend data show that immigrant men decrease their paid work with years since migration while immigrant women increase it. Estimates indicate that, for married immigrant men there is a tradeoff between market work and household work, whereas for single immigrant men the tradeoff is between market work and leisure. Finally, Mexican immigrant women relinquish mostly passive leisure and sleep time to meet demands of family and market work.     

Migration across developed countries: German immigrants in Sweden and the US

The present study evaluates the interplay between the effects of host countries' characteristics and self-selection patterns of immigrants from a highly developed country on their economic assimilation in other developed countries. The focus is on immigrants originated from Germany during 1990–2000 who migrated to Sweden and the US. The results show that almost all German immigrants reached full earnings assimilation with natives of similar observed attributes, and that the assimilation of highly educated Germans was better than that of the less educated. It was also found that the skilled immigrants were compensated for their human capital acquired in Germany. Finally, the better assimilation of German immigrants, especially the highly educated, took place in the US. This finding was probably the result of an interaction between the Germans’ pattern of self-selection and the US context of reception.     

From refugees to immigrants: the legalization strategies of Salvadoran immigrants and activists

"The legalization strategies pursued by Salvadoran immigrants and activists from the 1980s to the present demonstrate that migrants' and advocates' responses to policy changes reinterpret law in ways that affect future policy. Law is critical to immigrants' strategies in that [U.S.] legal status is increasingly a prerequisite for rights and services and that immigration law is embedded in other institutions and relationships. Immigration law is defined, however, not only when it is first formulated but also as it is implemented, enabling the immigrants who are defined according to legal categories to shape the definitions that categorization produces. Immigrants and activists also take formal legal and political actions, such as lobbying Congress and filing class action suits. Through such formal and informal policy negotiations, immigrants seek to shape their own and their nations' futures."     

Modes of labor market incorporation and occupational cost among new immigrants to Israel

"The present study contributes to the literature on international migration by examining social, demographic and contextual factors that influence modes of labor market incorporation and occupational cost among new immigrants during their first years after migration. The data for the analysis were obtained from the 1983 Census of Population conducted by Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics. The analysis focuses on men who immigrated to Israel between 1979 to 1983.... The data reveal that the likelihood of finding employment, the mode of labor market incorporation, and the size of the occupational cost are significantly affected by geocultural origin, occupation in the country of origin, and individual-level demographic and human capital resources. The meaning of the differentiated effects are discussed in detail. The findings point toward two central aspects that should be examined in the study of labor market incorporation of new immigrants: employment status and occupational cost."     

Mobility and work-residence matching for new immigrants in Hong Kong

Due to their prominence in contributing to Hong Kong's population growth in recent years, new immigrants' housing preference play a crucial role on shaping housing demand. However, previous studies have not focused on their characteristics. This study aims to identify the factors which influence residential mobility and work-residence matching of households with new immigrants, based on the most recent Population census data in Hong Kong. The findings indicate that households which contain Mainland Chinese immigrants are more mobile residentially and have better work-residence matching than those with non-Chinese immigrants. Besides, the work-residence matching preference is stronger for a household with all of its members immigrating to Hong Kong together. In addition, it is found that both district poverty and housing affordability keep households from obtaining better work-residence matching in general. The impact of the latter is particularly remarkable among households with foreign immigrants. These new findings would provide valuable implications for policy and market development.     

Culture and gender allocation of tasks: source country characteristics and the division of non-market work among US immigrants

Review of Economics of the Household - There is a well-known gender difference in time allocation within the household, which has important implications for gender differences in labor market...     

Do immigrants counter the effect of cultural distance on trade? Evidence from US state-level exports

We examine the effects of immigrants and cultural distance on US state-level exports, placing emphasis on the extent to which immigrants may offset the influence of cultural distance with respect to the initiation and intensification of exports. Our findings suggest that greater cultural differences between the US and immigrants’ home countries reduce both the likelihood that exporting occurs and, when exporting is taking place, the level of exports. Immigrants are found to exert pro-export effects that offset, at least partially, the trade-inhibiting effects of cultural distance. The estimated effects of both cultural distance and immigrants are found to be greater when the level of exports is examined as compared to when the likelihood that exporting occurs is considered; however, significant variation in the export-initiation and intensification effects of immigrants and cultural distance is reported across states.     

Beyond talk: Contributions of quantity and quality of communication to language success across socioeconomic strata

Infants from low-socioeconomic status (SES) households hear a projected 30 million fewer words than their higher-SES peers. In a recent study, Hirsh-Pasek et al. (Psychological Science, 2015; 26: 1071) found that in a low-income sample, fluency and connectedness in exchanges between caregivers and toddlers predicted child language a year later over and above quantity of talk (Hirsh-Pasek et al., Psychological Science, 2015; 26: 1071). Here, we expand upon this study by examining fluency and connectedness in two higher-SES samples. Using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, we sampled 20 toddlers who had low, average, and high language outcomes at 36 months from each of 2 groups based on income-to-needs ratio (INR; middle and high) and applied new coding to the mother–toddler interaction at 24 months. In the high-INR group, the quality of mother–toddler interaction at 24 months accounted for more variability in language outcomes a year later than did quantity of talk, quality of talk, or sensitive parenting. These results could not be accounted for by child language ability at 24 months. These effects were not found in the middle-INR sample. Our findings suggest that when the quality of interaction, fluency and connectedness, predicts language outcomes, it is a robust relation, but it may not be universal.     

Foreign retirement income among new older immigrants in the United States

Older adults make up an increasing share of new legal immigrants to the United States. These immigrants are often financially dependent on family since they are often barred from receiving several US support programmes and are less likely to receive US retirement benefits than natives. However, little information exists as to whether they receive retirement income from abroad. Using the New Immigrant Survey (N=2,150), we find that only 8.1 per cent of older recent immigrants report receiving foreign retirement income. In logistic modelling, older immigrants from Asia and Latin America were less likely to receive retirement income from abroad than those from Europe (Odds ratio = 0.50, p<0.05; Odds ratio = 0.22, p<0.001, respectively). Results suggest that newly admitted older immigrants from Asia and Latin America face an additional economic disadvantage compared with older Europeans that cannot be attributed to their demographic and migration characteristics.     

The employment and wages of legalized immigrants

"This article analyzes the employment and wages of recently legalized immigrants [in the United States] using the Legalization Application Processing System (LAPS) file, an administrative file based on the individual records of amnesty applicants, and draws comparisons with a sample of the foreign-born population from the Current Population Surveys of 1983, 1986 and 1988. Compared to the total foreign-born population, the legalized immigrant population differs in four important respects that bear on labor market position: 1) a younger age structure; 2) a less balanced gender composition; 3) a greater representation of Latin Americans; and 4) few years of U.S. residence. LAPS data reveal high rates of labor force participation among legalized immigrants, which exceeded the rates of the foreign-born population by approximately 5 and 17 percent for men and women, respectively."     

The industrial division of labor among immigrants and internal migrants to the Los Angeles economy

This study examined the industrial division of labor among immigrants and in-migrants in the Los Angeles, California, metropolitan area. It addresses debates about channeling of new arrivals into jobs among similar ethnic groups and human capital views. Data were obtained from the 1990 Census on resident native-born, resident foreign-born, in-migrants, and recent immigrants who arrived during 1985-90. Light and Rosenstein's (1995) concepts of groups and their resources were used to organize ideas about ethnic networks and their effectiveness in channeling migrant workers into 15 industrial sectors. Sectoral differences were revealed with the familiarity index of dissimilarity. Findings reveal that social networks were the strongest for Koreans, who supplied work for recent arrivals in the same sectors as Korean-born residents, regardless of education. Mexican new arrivals were less likely to work in the same sectors as their resident Mexican counterparts. Mexican networks placed new arrivals in durable manufacturing in the 1960s and 1970s when it was a key source of employment. By the 1980s and 1990s, the economy shifted and employment went down in durable manufacturing. Mexicans thus found employment elsewhere. Native White and Black in-migrants had the strongest channeling into same sector jobs. This is attributed to the small streams, the ability of the labor market to absorb these workers, and the availability of job vacancies among native out-migrants. Filipino migrants had similar patterns as Whites and Blacks. Mexican and Central American residents had more inter-ethnic competition over jobs than Whites or Blacks.     

伊拉克重建中的美国优势和挑战

美国在伊拉克重建中有优势，也面临挑战。优势有地缘和经济优势；挑战主要体现在社会秩序、政治和经济重建三个方面。如美国继续撇开联合国和国际社会，不顾中东地区的宗教、种族、历史和文化等实际情况而大张旗鼓的改造、整合伊拉克，把伊重建打上“美国造”标记，必会遇到更多严峻挑战。     

伊拉克重建中的美国优势和挑战

美国在伊拉克重建中有优势,也面临挑战.优势有地缘和经济优势;挑战主要体现在社会秩序、政治和经济重建三个方面.如美国继续撇开联合国和国际社会,不顾中东地区的宗教、种族、历史和文化等实际情况而大张旗鼓的改造、整合伊拉克,把伊重建打上"美国造"标记,必会遇到更多严峻挑战.     

Religion, religiosity and educational attainment of immigrants to the USA

This paper quantifies the association between religions, religiosity and educational attainment of new lawful immigrants to the US. This paper considers a broad set of religions that includes most of the major religions of the world. Using data from the New Immigrant Survey (2003), we show that affiliation with religion is not necessarily associated with an increase in educational attainment. Muslim and “Other religion” immigrants have less education compared to the immigrants who are not affiliated with any religion. However, affiliation with the Jewish religion is associated with higher educational attainment for males. With regard to religiosity, our results show that high religiosity is associated with lower educational attainment, especially for females. We also outline alternative frameworks that provide insight about the mechanisms that link religion and religiosity with educational attainment.