THE EFFECT OF CHANGES IN THE U.S. WAGE STRUCTURE ON RECENT IMMIGRANTS' EARNINGS

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Lubotsky, Darren
• 署名单位: University of Illinois System; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/REST_a_00094
• 发表日期: 2011-02
• 页码: 59-71
• 关键词: Longitudinal Data; cohort quality; relative wages; assimilation; returns; skills; 1980S

摘要

Since recent immigrants tend to earn less than natives, their relative earnings have been adversely affected by an increase in the return to labor market skills over the past three decades. Using longitudinal Social Security records matched to cross-sections of the SIPP and CPS, I estimate the return to skills rose by 41% between 1980 and 1997. This reduced the relative earnings of immigrants who arrived in the 1980s and early 1990s by 10 to 15 percentage points. Examining solely the earnings of recent immigrants may lead to an overly pessimistic picture of their actual labor market skills.