Abstract
Two radically different descriptions of immigrant earnings trajectories in the USA have emerged. One asserts that immigrant men, following the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, have low initial earnings and high earnings growth. Another asserts that the post-1965 immigrants have low initial earnings and low earnings growth. We describe the methodological issues that create this divide and show that low earnings growth becomes high earnings growth when immigrants are followed from their initial years in the USA; earnings growth is allowed to vary with entry earnings; and—when following cohorts instead of individuals—sample restrictions commonly used by labor economists are avoided.
Highlights
Introduction and backgroundThe 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act brought about the final elimination of discriminatory country-specific quotas and introduced a system of admission categories favoring immigrants with family members in the USA willing to sponsor them.1 The quota system that came into existence four decades earlier as part of the 1924 Immigration Act allocated visas according to the national-origin composition of the US population that existed in 1890.2 Its intent was to limit most US immigration to persons from north-western Europe.3 largely aimed at limiting Southern and Eastern European immigrants, the 1924 quota system restricted immigration from Africa and Asia
Individuals may move from wage and salary jobs to self-employment. While these issues apply to any cohort followed between censuses, they may be important for the study of immigrant earnings growth because immigrants have high occupational mobility, high in-school rates, and, for some groups, high self-employment rates
Poorly predict the economic contribution immigrants make to the US economy, or their eventual social and economic status
Summary
The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act brought about the final elimination of discriminatory country-specific quotas and introduced a system of admission categories favoring immigrants with family members in the USA willing to sponsor them. The quota system that came into existence four decades earlier as part of the 1924 Immigration Act allocated visas according to the national-origin composition of the US population that existed in 1890.2 Its intent was to limit most US immigration to persons from north-western Europe.. Since cohorts that vary in their entry-level earnings systematically vary in their earnings growth, analysts should (at least initially) examine each year-of-entry cohort separately Limiting their analysis to entry cohorts, following each year-of-entry cohort separately, allowing both entry earnings and earnings growth to vary, and avoiding sample restrictions, the census-based studies of Duleep and Regets (1994, 2002) find that the earnings trajectories of immigrant men who entered the USA prior to or just after the 1965 Immigration Act resemble the earnings trajectories of natives.. Starting at various beginning points, the year-of-entry cohorts converge to the same relative earnings point.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
