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Earning Trajectories of Highly Educated Immigrants: Does Place of Education Matter?

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  • Neeraj Kaushal

Abstract

The author compares the earnings and earning trajectories of U.S. college-educated immigrants with those of similar immigrants who completed their education abroad using cross-sectional and longitudinal data from the 1993 and 2003 National Surveys of College Graduates. Adjusting for demographics, results based on cross-sectional data suggest that the annual earnings of college-educated, foreign-born men were 9% less than those of similar U.S.-born men whereas the annual earnings of college-educated foreign-born women were 3% less than those of similar U.S.-born women. After further adjusting for place of education, however, the gap narrowed by 42% for men and vanished for women. An analysis of longitudinal data reveals that in the first 15 years after arrival, U.S.-educated, foreign-born science and engineering (S&E) professionals had higher earnings growth (relative to native-born S&E professionals) than their foreign-educated counterparts. Evidence also indicates that attrition was associated with labor market performance. Of those in the sample, U.S.-educated S&E professionals who stayed had higher earnings than those who exited.

Suggested Citation

  • Neeraj Kaushal, 2011. "Earning Trajectories of Highly Educated Immigrants: Does Place of Education Matter?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 64(2), pages 323-340, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:64:y:2011:i:2:p:323-340
    DOI: 10.1177/001979391106400206
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    Cited by:

    1. Amelie F. Constant, 2019. "Return, Circular, and Onward Migration Decisions in a Knowledge Society," CESifo Working Paper Series 7913, CESifo.
    2. Constant, Amelie F., 2020. "Time-Space Dynamics of Return and Circular Migration: Theories and Evidence," GLO Discussion Paper Series 446, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Neeraj Kaushal & Yao Lu & Nicole Denier & Julia Shu-Huah Wang & Stephen J. Trejo, 2016. "Immigrant employment and earnings growth in Canada and the USA: evidence from longitudinal data," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(4), pages 1249-1277, October.
    4. Randall Akee & Maggie R. Jones, 2019. "Immigrants' Earnings Growth and Return Migration from the U.S.: Examining their Determinants using Linked Survey and Administrative Data," Working Papers 19-10, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    5. Randall Akee & Maggie R. Jones, 2019. "Foreign vs. U.S. Graduate Degrees: The Impact on Earnings Assimilation and Return Migration for the Foreign Born," Working Papers 19-17, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.

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