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English Language Proficiency and the Earnings of Young Immigrants in U.S. Labor Markets

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  • Francisco L. Rivera‐Batiz

Abstract

This paper studies the English language proficiency levels of immigrants to the United States as determined from scores on a standardized test explicitly designed to measure reading proficiency. The data are disaggregated by area of origin and year of immigration. The connection between English deficiency levels and wages is then examined. In contrast to previous studies, it is found that English deficiency unambiguously depresses the wages of immigrants below what their other human capital characteristics suggest they should earn in the U.S. labor market. At the same time, the data show that, among the sample of young adults examined, there is a remarkable correlation between learning of English and time lived in the United States. The study indicates that policies encouraging the acquisition of English as a second language may provide a high dividend in the form of economic progress among immigrants.

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  • Francisco L. Rivera‐Batiz, 1992. "English Language Proficiency and the Earnings of Young Immigrants in U.S. Labor Markets," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 11(2), pages 165-175, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:revpol:v:11:y:1992:i:2:p:165-175
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1541-1338.1992.tb00399.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Duleep, Harriet & Liu, Xingfei & Regets, Mark, 2018. "Country of Origin, Earnings Convergence, and Human Capital Investment: A New Method for the Analysis of U.S. Immigrant Economic Assimilation," GLO Discussion Paper Series 247, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    2. Christian Dustmann, 1996. "The social assimilation of immigrants," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 9(1), pages 37-54, February.
    3. 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.
    4. Duleep, Harriet & Liu, Xingfei & Regets, Mark, 2014. "Country of Origin and Immigrant Earnings, 1960-2000: A Human Capital Investment Perspective," IZA Discussion Papers 8628, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Pablo Swedberg, 2010. "The impact of education and host language skills on the labor market outcomes of immigrants in Spain," Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación volume 5, in: María Jesús Mancebón-Torrubia & Domingo P. Ximénez-de-Embún & José María Gómez-Sancho & Gregorio Gim (ed.), Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación 5, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 41, pages 798-824, Asociación de Economía de la Educación.
    6. Harriet Orcutt Duleep, 2013. "Country of Origin and Immigrant Earnings: Evidence from 1960-1990," Working Papers 131, Department of Economics, College of William and Mary.

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