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Gender, Comparative Advantage and Labor Market Activity in Immigrant Families

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  • Cobb-Clark, Deborah A.

    (University of Sydney)

  • Crossley, Thomas F.

    (University of Essex)

Abstract

The family investment hypothesis predicts that credit-constrained immigrant families adopt a household strategy for financing post-migration human capital investment in which the partner with labor market comparative advantage engages in investment activities and the other partner undertakes labor market activities which finance current consumption. We assess this hypothesis by focusing on two issues: first, the extent to which the specialization in the investing versus financing role is based on comparative advantage versus gender, and second, the extent to which credit constraints offer a potential explanation for observed behavior. Using a unique new Australian data set we find that comparative advantage and gender can be separately identified in migrating families. We find some support for the family investment hypothesis among traditional families (where labor market comparative advantage resides with the male partner) but not among nontraditional families.

Suggested Citation

  • Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Crossley, Thomas F., 2001. "Gender, Comparative Advantage and Labor Market Activity in Immigrant Families," IZA Discussion Papers 293, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp293
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Christopher Worswick, 1996. "Immigrant Families in the Canadian Labour Market," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 22(4), pages 378-396, December.
    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..
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    6. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Connolly, Marie D. & Worswick, Christopher, 2001. "The Job Search and Education Investments of Immigrant Families," IZA Discussion Papers 290, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Antecol, Heather, 2000. "An examination of cross-country differences in the gender gap in labor force participation rates," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(4), pages 409-426, July.
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    9. 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.
    10. Harriet Orcutt Duleep & Seth Sanders, 1993. "The Decision to Work by Married Immigrant Women," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 46(4), pages 677-690, July.
    11. Deborah Cobb-Clark & Marie D. Connolly & Christopher Worswick, 2001. "The Job Search and Investments of Immigrant Families," CEPR Discussion Papers 432, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    12. Baker, Michael & Benjamin, Dwayne, 1997. "The Role of the Family in Immigrants' Labor-Market Activity: An Evaluation of Alternative Explanations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(4), pages 705-727, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Talat Mahmood & Klaus Schömann, 2002. "The Determinants of the Migration Decision of IT-graduates from Pakistan: Empirical Evidence for the Design of a German "Green Card"," CIG Working Papers FS IV 02-03a, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB), Research Unit: Competition and Innovation (CIG).
    2. Ahn T. Le, 2003. "Female Labour Market Participation: Differences Between Primary and Tied Movers," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 03-17, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    3. Christian Dustmann & Francesca Fabbri, 2005. "Gender and Ethnicity--Married Immigrants in Britain," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 21(3), pages 462-484, Autumn.
    4. Talat Mahmood & Klaus Schömann, 2003. "On the Migration Decision of IT-Graduates: A Two-Level Nested Logit Model," CIG Working Papers SP II 2003-22, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB), Research Unit: Competition and Innovation (CIG).
    5. Mahmood, Talat & Schömann, Klaus, 2009. "The decision to migrate: A simultaneous decision making approach," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Competition and Innovation SP II 2009-17, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    6. Talat Mahmood & Klaus Schömann, 2003. "On the Migration Decision of Indian IT-Graduates: An Empirical Analysis," CIG Working Papers SP II 2003-23, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB), Research Unit: Competition and Innovation (CIG).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    immigrant families; Family investment hypothesis; comparative advantage;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General

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