IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/anresc/v51y2013i1p53-72.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Human capital and wages: a comparison of Albanian and Italian immigrants

Author

Listed:
  • Kate Mane
  • Brigitte Waldorf

Abstract

This paper identifies the factors influencing earnings gaps between migrants belonging to old immigrant groups (defined as those with long established migration linkages with the receiving country) and those belonging to new immigrant groups. Earnings are conceptualized as a function of human capital, decomposed into the portion acquired in the home country and the portion acquired in the receiving country. It is hypothesized that poor transferability of human capital acquired at home dampens wages more for new than for old immigrant groups. Further, it is hypothesized that upon arrival in the destination, new immigrant groups accumulate human capital faster than old immigrant groups. The empirical analysis focuses on Albanians in the United States as a representative of a new immigrant group and Italians as a representative of an old immigrant group. The analysis is based on pooled data from the 2000 US Census 5 % sample, and the 2001–2007 American Community Survey (ACS) 3 % sample. Findings suggest that (1) Albanian immigrants earn substantially less than Italian immigrants; (2) human capital acquired at home has a positive impact on wages, but the level of human capital transferability is low for Albanians; (3) upon arrival, both Italian and Albanian immigrants accumulate human capital, but the speed of human capital accumulation is faster for Albanians than for Italians. Copyright Springer-Verlag 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Kate Mane & Brigitte Waldorf, 2013. "Human capital and wages: a comparison of Albanian and Italian immigrants," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 51(1), pages 53-72, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:anresc:v:51:y:2013:i:1:p:53-72
    DOI: 10.1007/s00168-012-0532-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s00168-012-0532-2
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00168-012-0532-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stewart, James B & Hyclak, Thomas, 1984. "An Analysis of the Earnings Profiles of Immigrants," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 66(2), pages 292-296, May.
    2. Edward P. Lazear, 1999. "Culture and Language," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(S6), pages 95-126, December.
    3. Carliner, Geoffrey, 1980. "Wages, Earnings and Hours of First, Second, and Third Generation American Males," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 18(1), pages 87-102, January.
    4. Barro, Robert J. & Lee, Jong Wha, 2013. "A new data set of educational attainment in the world, 1950–2010," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 184-198.
    5. George J. Borjas, 1994. "The Economics of Immigration," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 32(4), pages 1667-1717, December.
    6. Friedberg, Rachel M, 2000. "You Can't Take It with You? Immigrant Assimilation and the Portability of Human Capital," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(2), pages 221-251, April.
    7. J. Ekberg & M. Hammarstedt & G. Shukur, 2010. "Immigrant-native earnings differentials: SUR estimation applied on three generations," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 45(3), pages 705-720, December.
    8. Raymond J G M Florax & Thomas de Graaff & Brigitte S Waldorf, 2005. "A Spatial Economic Perspective on Language Acquisition: Segregation, Networking, and Assimilation of Immigrants," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(10), pages 1877-1897, October.
    9. Ashraf El-Araby Aly & James Ragan, 2010. "Arab immigrants in the United States: how and why do returns to education vary by country of origin?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 23(2), pages 519-538, March.
    10. Bauer, Thomas K. & Lofstrom, Magnus & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2000. "Immigration Policy, Assimilation of Immigrants and Natives' Sentiments towards Immigrants: Evidence from 12 OECD-Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 187, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. 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.
    12. Brigitte S. Waldorf & Julia Beckhusen & Raymond J.G.M. Florax & Thomas De Graaff, 2010. "The role of human capital in language acquisition among immigrants in US metropolitan," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 2(1), pages 39-49, June.
    13. Brigitte S. Waldorf, 1994. "Assimilation And Attachment In The Context Of International Migration: The Case Of Guestworkers In Germany," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(3), pages 241-266, July.
    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. Ayoung Kim & Brigitte S. Waldorf & Natasha T. Duncan, 2021. "US immigration policy and brain waste," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 66(2), pages 209-236, April.
    2. Armando J. Garcia Pires, 2015. "Brain Drain And Brain Waste," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 40(1), pages 1-34, March.

    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. Mane, Kate M. & Waldorf, Brigitte S., 2010. "Living The American Dream? Wage Outcomes Of Albanian Immigrants In The United States," Working papers 90844, Purdue University, Department of Agricultural Economics.
    2. Kate M. Mane & Brigitte S.Waldorf, 2010. "Living The American Dream? Wage Outcomes Of Albanian Immigrants In The United States," Working Papers 10-7, Purdue University, College of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Economics.
    3. Matthew A. Painter & Zhenchao Qian, 2016. "Wealth Inequality Among Immigrants: Consistent Racial/Ethnic Inequality in the United States," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 35(2), pages 147-175, April.
    4. Zenou, Yves & Battu, Harminder & Mwale, MacDonald, 2003. "Do Oppositional Identities Reduce Employment for Ethnic Minorities?," CEPR Discussion Papers 3819, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. 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.
    6. Julia Beckhusen & Raymond J.G.M. Florax & Thomas de Graaff & Jacques Poot & Brigitte Waldorf, 2012. "Living and Working in Ethnic Enclaves: Language Proficiency of Immigrants in U.S. Metropolitan Areas," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 1203, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    7. Harminder Battu & Yves Zenou, 2010. "Oppositional Identities and Employment for Ethnic Minorities: Evidence from England," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(542), pages 52-71, February.
    8. Alexandra Mergener & Tobias Maier, 2019. "Immigrants’ Chances of Being Hired at Times of Skill Shortages: Results from a Factorial Survey Experiment Among German Employers," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 155-177, February.
    9. Viola Angelini & Laura Casi & Luca Corazzini, 2015. "Life satisfaction of immigrants: does cultural assimilation matter?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 28(3), pages 817-844, July.
    10. Berman, Eli & Lang, Kevin & Siniver, Erez, 2003. "Language-skill complementarity: returns to immigrant language acquisition," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 265-290, June.
    11. Schaeffer, Peter V., 2006. "Outline of an Economic Theory of Assimilation," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 36(2), pages 1-8.
    12. Li, Qiang, 2013. "Language and urban labor market segmentation: Theory and evidence," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 27-46.
    13. Chiara Zisler & Damiano Pregaldini & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2023. "Opening doors for immigrants: The importance of occupational and workplace-based cultural skills for successful labor market entry," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0204, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    14. Mark Levels & Jaap Dronkers & Christopher Jencks, 2017. "Contextual explanations for numeracy and literacy skill disparities between native and foreign-born adults in western countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(3), pages 1-25, March.
    15. Smolny, Werner & Rieber, Alexander, 2016. "Labour market integration of immigrants - Evidence for the German guest workers," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145629, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    16. Michael Fertig & Stefanie Schurer, 2007. "Earnings Assimilation of Immigrants in Germany: The Importance of Heterogeneity and Attrition Bias," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 30, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    17. Alberto Bisin & Eleonora Patacchini & Thierry Verdier & Yves Zenou, 2011. "Ethnic identity and labour market outcomes of immigrants in Europe [Assessing the oppositional culture explanation for racial/ethnic differences in school performance]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 26(65), pages 57-92.
    18. Bernt Bratsberg & Oddbjørn Raaum & Knut Røed, 2010. "When Minority Labor Migrants Meet the Welfare State," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 28(3), pages 633-676, July.
    19. Ilana Redstone Akresh, 2008. "Occupational Trajectories of Legal US Immigrants: Downgrading and Recovery," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 34(3), pages 435-456, September.
    20. Amelie F. Constant & Klaus F. Zimmermann, 2011. "Migration, Ethnicity and Economic Integration," Chapters, in: Miroslav N. Jovanović (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Integration, Volume III, chapter 7, Edward Elgar Publishing.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    F22; J31; J61;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

    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:spr:anresc:v:51:y:2013:i:1:p:53-72. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.