The Influence of Race on Employment Status and Earnings of African Immigrant Men in the United States

Yanyi K. Djamba,Sitawa R. Kimuna

doi:10.1155/2011/305873

Abstract

This paper uses the labor queue theory to examine the changing influence of race on the employment status and earnings of African immigrant men in the United States between 1980 and 2008. The results show that the white advantage echoed in previous research has diminished. Black African immigrant men′s chance of being employed is now greater than that of their white counterparts when their sociodemographic characteristics are taken into consideration. However, when human capital factors are included in the regression models, white African immigrant men still maintain a significant advantage in earnings. This study also uncovered differential impacts of marriage and school enrollment on white and black African immigrant men′s employment and earnings. These results challenge the use of labor queue theory as a framework for explaining immigrants′ experience in the US job market.

Highlights

Despite the increasing diversity of people living in the United States today, race remains a factor of interest and controversy among researchers and lay persons
The following questions are examined using the 5 percent Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) data from the last three censuses (1980, 1990, and 2000) and the 2008 American Community Survey: (1) Between black and white African men, which racial group has the best chance of employment and higher personal income in the United States? and (2) what effects, if any, do their social and human capital factors have on their chance of employment and personal income?
This study highlights the changes in size and composition of the male African immigrant population in the United States during the periods of 1980–2008, and differences in the labor force participation and earnings between black and white African immigrant men aged 16–64 years

Summary

Introduction

Despite the increasing diversity of people living in the United States today, race remains a factor of interest and controversy among researchers and lay persons This is probably more evident in the labor market where the person’s race is said to affect their chance of employment and earnings. The change became apparent since 1990 as a result of a sustained economic growth in the United States (pull factor) and mounting economic and political crises in Africa (push factor) It was sustained by the introduction in 1995 of the annual immigration program through which some 50,000 foreign-born people are admitted to the United States and granted permanent resident status. We use data from the US Census and American Community Survey to examine the influence of race on employment status and earnings of African immigrant men for the period of 1980–2008. Our key hypothesis is that the influence of race on African immigrant men’s labor force participation and earnings may have changed or even diminished with shifting racial composition of the African immigrant population

Background and Rationale

Theoretical Perspectives and Research Hypotheses

Data and Methods

Definition of Variables

Results

Conclusion