IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp2461.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Intermarriage, Language, and Economic Assimilation Process: A Case Study of France

Author

Listed:
  • Meng, Xin

    (Australian National University)

  • Meurs, Dominique

    (University Paris Ouest-Nanterre)

Abstract

Lack of economic assimilation of immigrants often results in social and political unrest of a society. The increased desire to understand better the nature of the assimilation process of immigrants is due to increased immigration flows in many western countries. In this paper we try to study the role of intermarriage in the process of immigrant economic assimilation in France. We find that among all immigrants those who are intermarried earn around 17 per cent more than those who are endogamously married. Once taking into account individual characteristics and endogeneity of intermarriage, the premium is around 25 to 35 per cent. In addition, the intermarriage premium is substantially higher for individuals who have better grasp of French language before migration than for those whose language skill is poor. This result seems to suggest that, perhaps, immigrants who have a strong base in the native language can better reap the gain from intermarriage.

Suggested Citation

  • Meng, Xin & Meurs, Dominique, 2006. "Intermarriage, Language, and Economic Assimilation Process: A Case Study of France," IZA Discussion Papers 2461, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2461
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp2461.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chiswick, Barry R & Miller, Paul W, 1995. "The Endogeneity between Language and Earnings: International Analyses," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 13(2), pages 246-288, April.
    2. George J. Borjas, 2021. "Assimilation, Changes in Cohort Quality, and the Earnings of Immigrants," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foundational Essays in Immigration Economics, chapter 2, pages 3-29, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    3. Eric Maurin, 1991. "Les étrangers : une main-d'oeuvre à part ?," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 242(1), pages 39-50.
    4. Bell, Brian D, 1997. "The Performance of Immigrants in the United Kingdom: Evidence from the GHS," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(441), pages 333-344, March.
    5. Edward P. Lazear, 1999. "Culture and Language," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(S6), pages 95-126, December.
    6. Christian Dustmann & Francesca Fabbri, 2003. "Language proficiency and labour market performance of immigrants in the UK," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(489), pages 695-717, July.
    7. Josh Angrist, 2002. "How Do Sex Ratios Affect Marriage and Labor Markets? Evidence from America's Second Generation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(3), pages 997-1038.
    8. Baker, Michael & Benjamin, Dwayne, 1994. "The Performance of Immigrants in the Canadian Labor Market," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 12(3), pages 369-405, July.
    9. Christian Dustmann & Arthur Van Soest, 2002. "Language and the Earnings of Immigrants," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 55(3), pages 473-492, April.
    10. Kantarevic, Jasmin, 2004. "Interethnic Marriages and Economic Assimilation of Immigrants," IZA Discussion Papers 1142, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Xin Meng & Robert G. Gregory, 2005. "Intermarriage and the Economic Assimilation of Immigrants," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 23(1), pages 135-176, January.
    12. Chiswick, Barry R, 1978. "The Effect of Americanization on the Earnings of Foreign-born Men," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 86(5), pages 897-921, October.
    13. Jean-Louis Dayan & Annick Echardour & Michel Glaude, 1996. "Le parcours professionnel des immigrés en France : une analyse longitudinale," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 299(1), pages 107-128.
    14. Constant, Amelie F., 2003. "Immigrant Adjustment in France and Impacts on the Natives," IZA Discussion Papers 866, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. A. Dupray & Stéphanie Moullet, 2004. "Quelles discriminations à l'encontre des jeunes d'origine maghrébine à l'entrée du marché du travail en France?," Brussels Economic Review, in: Lahcen Achy (ed.),Marché du travail et genre: Maghreb-Europe, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Delia Furtado & Stephen J. Trejo, 2013. "Interethnic marriages and their economic effects," Chapters, in: Amelie F. Constant & Klaus F. Zimmermann (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Migration, chapter 15, pages 276-292, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Chunbei Wang & Le Wang, 2012. "The effects of 9/11 on intermarriage between natives and immigrants to the U.S," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 171-192, June.
    3. Feng, Zhiqiang & van Ham, Maarten & Boyle, Paul & Raab, Gillian M., 2012. "A Longitudinal Study of Migration Propensities for Mixed Ethnic Unions in England and Wales," IZA Discussion Papers 6394, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Nekby, Lena, 2010. "Inter- and Intra-Marriage Premiums Revisited: It’s probably who you are, not who you marry!," SULCIS Working Papers 2010:12, Stockholm University, Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies - SULCIS.
    5. Barry Chiswick & Christina Houseworth, 2011. "Ethnic intermarriage among immigrants: human capital and assortative mating," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 149-180, June.
    6. Höhne, Jutta & Koopmans, Ruud, 2010. "Host-country cultural capital and labour market trajectories of migrants in Germany: The impact of host-country orientation and migrant-specific human and social capital on labour market transitions," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Migration, Integration, Transnationalization SP IV 2010-701, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    7. Delia Furtado & Nikolaos Theodoropoulos, 2009. "Intermarriage and Immigrant Employment: The Role of Networks," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 0906, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    8. Belot, Michèle & Fidrmuc, Jan, 2010. "Anthropometry of love: Height and gender asymmetries in interethnic marriages," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 361-372, December.
    9. Nottmeyer, Olga, 2011. "Couple's Relative Labor Supply in Intermarriage," IZA Discussion Papers 5567, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. George Messinis, 2009. "Earnings and Languages in the Family: Second-Generation Australians," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 85(s1), pages 59-73, September.
    11. Basilio, Leilanie, 2009. "Deciding Who Works Where – An Analysis of the Distribution of Work within Native and Immigrant Families in Australia," Ruhr Economic Papers 125, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    12. Sukanya Basu, 2017. "Household labor supply and intermarriage of immigrants: differences by gender," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-25, December.
    13. Olga Nottmeyer, 2010. "Does Intermarriage Pay Off?: A Panel Data Analysis," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1044, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    14. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Hildebrand, Vincent A., 2008. "The Asset Portfolios of Native-Born and Foreign-Born Households," IZA Discussion Papers 3304, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Furtado, Delia & Theodoropoulos, Nikolaos, 2009. "I'll Marry You If You Get Me a Job: Marital Assimilation and Immigrant Employment Rates," IZA Discussion Papers 3951, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Nottmeyer, Olga, 2010. "Does Intermarriage Pay Off? A Panel Data Analysis," IZA Discussion Papers 5104, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Aycan Çelikaksoy, 2014. "Parental Background and Union Formation Behavior of Native Born Individuals in Sweden with a Foreign Background," Societies, MDPI, vol. 4(3), pages 1-12, June.
    18. Delia Furtado, 2009. "Cross-nativity marriages and human capital levels of children," Research in Labor Economics, in: Ethnicity and Labor Market Outcomes, pages 273-296, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    19. Constant, Amelie F. & Nottmeyer, Olga & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2009. "Cultural Integration in Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 4675, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Deborah A. Cobb‐Clark & Vincent A. Hildebrand, 2009. "The Asset Portfolios of Native‐born and Foreign‐born Australian Households," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 85(268), pages 46-59, March.
    21. Olga Nottmeyer, 2010. "Does Intermarriage Pay Off?: A Panel Data Analysis," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 314, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    22. Davide Azzolini & Raffaele Guetto, 2017. "The impact of citizenship on intermarriage: Quasi-experimental evidence from two European Union Eastern enlargements," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 36(43), pages 1299-1336.
    23. Rosa Weber, 2015. "Does intermarriage change migrants’ preferences for the home country?," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-21, December.
    24. Mirna Safi, 2007. "La dimension maritale du processus d’intégration des immigrés en France : Inter-mariage et emploi," Working Papers 2007-13, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dustmann, Christian & Glitz, Albrecht, 2011. "Migration and Education," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 327-439, Elsevier.
    2. Oliver Himmler & Robert Jäckle, 2018. "Literacy and the Migrant–Native Wage Gap," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(3), pages 592-625, September.
    3. Sari Pekkala Kerr & William R. Kerr, 2011. "Economic Impacts of Immigration: A Survey," Finnish Economic Papers, Finnish Economic Association, vol. 24(1), pages 1-32, Spring.
    4. Verdier, Thierry & Zenou, Yves, 2017. "The role of social networks in cultural assimilation," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 15-39.
    5. B.R. Chiswick & P.W. Miller, 2000. "Do Enclaves Matter in Immigrant Adjustment?," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 00-19, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    6. Zhiling Wang & Thomas de Graaff & Peter Nijkamp, 2018. "Barriers of Culture, Networks, and Language in International Migration: A Review," REGION, European Regional Science Association, vol. 5, pages 73-89.
    7. Yao, Yuxin, 2017. "Essays on economics of language and family economics," Other publications TiSEM 0093bc8e-e869-4f87-8ff8-8, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    8. Sanromá, Esteban & Ramos, Raul & Simón, Hipólito, 2009. "Immigrant Wages in the Spanish Labour Market: Does the Origin of Human Capital Matter?," IZA Discussion Papers 4157, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Foged, Mette & van der Werf, Cynthia, 2023. "Access to language training and the local integration of refugees," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    10. Euwals, Rob & Dagevos, Jaco & Gijsberts, Mérove & Roodenburg, Hans, 2007. "The Labour Market Position of Turkish Immigrants in Germany and the Netherlands: Reason for Migration, Naturalisation and Language Proficiency," IZA Discussion Papers 2683, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Rob Euwals & Hans Roodenburg & J. Dagevos & M. Gijsberts, 2007. "The labour market position of Turkish immigrants in Germany and the Netherlands; reason for migration, naturalisation and language proficiency," CPB Discussion Paper 79, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    12. Akgüç, Mehtap & Ferrer, Ana, 2015. "Educational Attainment and Labor Market Performance: An Analysis of Immigrants in France," IZA Discussion Papers 8925, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Ryo Itoh & Yasuhiro Sato & Yves Zenou, 2021. "Intergenerational Assimilation of Minorities: The Role of the Majority Group," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1181, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    14. Hatton, Timothy J. & Wheatley Price, Stephen, 1998. "Migration, Migrants and Policy in the United Kingdom," CEPR Discussion Papers 1960, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Esteve Sanromá & Raúl Ramos & Hipólito Simón, 2015. "Portability of Human Capital and Immigrant Overeducation in Spain," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 34(2), pages 223-241, April.
    16. Maani, Sholeh A. & Wang, Xingang & Rogers, Alan, 2015. "Network Effects, Ethnic Capital and Immigrants' Earnings Assimilation: Evidence from a Spatial, Hausman-Taylor Estimation," IZA Discussion Papers 9308, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Xin Meng & Robert G. Gregory, 2005. "Intermarriage and the Economic Assimilation of Immigrants," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 23(1), pages 135-176, January.
    18. Aycan, Çelikaksoy & Lena, Nekby & Saman, Rashid, 2009. "Assortative Mating by Ethnic Background and Education in Sweden: The Role of Parental Composition on Partner Choice," SULCIS Working Papers 2009:7, Stockholm University, Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies - SULCIS.
    19. Raux, Morgan, 2023. "Cultural differences and immigrants’ wages," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    20. Delia Furtado, 2012. "Human Capital And Interethnic Marriage Decisions," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 50(1), pages 82-93, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    immigration; economic assimilation; intermarriage;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2461. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.