IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp9664.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Acceleration of Immigrant Unhealthy Assimilation

Author

Listed:
  • Giuntella, Osea

    (University of Pittsburgh)

  • Stella, Luca

    (University of Milan)

Abstract

It is well-known that immigrants tend to be healthier than US natives and that this advantage erodes with time spent in the US. However, we know less about the heterogeneity of these trajectories among arrival cohorts. Recent studies have shown that later arrival cohorts of immigrants have lower entry wages and experience less economic assimilation. In this paper, we investigate whether similar cohort effects can be observed in the weight assimilation of immigrants in the US. Focusing on obesity, we show that more recent immigrant cohorts arrive with higher obesity rates and experience a faster "unhealthy assimilation" in terms of weight gain.

Suggested Citation

  • Giuntella, Osea & Stella, Luca, 2016. "The Acceleration of Immigrant Unhealthy Assimilation," IZA Discussion Papers 9664, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9664
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp9664.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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..
    2. Borjas, George J, 1995. "Assimilation and Changes in Cohort Quality Revisited: What Happened to Immigrant Earnings in the 1980s?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 13(2), pages 201-245, April.
    3. Barry R. Chiswick & Yew Liang Lee & Paul W. Miller, 2008. "Immigrant Selection Systems And Immigrant Health," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 26(4), pages 555-578, October.
    4. Cawley, John & Meyerhoefer, Chad, 2012. "The medical care costs of obesity: An instrumental variables approach," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 219-230.
    5. George J. Borjas, 2021. "The Slowdown in the Economic Assimilation of Immigrants: Aging and Cohort Effects Revisited Again," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foundational Essays in Immigration Economics, chapter 3, pages 31-65, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    6. 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.
    7. Heather Antecol & Kelly Bedard, 2006. "Unhealthy assimilation: Why do immigrants converge to American health status levels?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 43(2), pages 337-360, May.
    8. Leigh Ann Leung, 2014. "Healthy And Unhealthy Assimilation: Country Of Origin And Smoking Behavior Among Immigrants," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(12), pages 1411-1429, December.
    9. John Cawley, 2004. "The Impact of Obesity on Wages," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 39(2).
    10. Steven Kennedy & James Ted McDonald & Nicholas Biddle, 2006. "The Healthy Immigrant Effect and Immigrant Selection: Evidence from Four Countries," Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population Research Papers 164, McMaster University.
    11. Guillermina Jasso & Douglas S. Massey & Mark R. Rosenzweig & James P. Smith, 2004. "Immigrant Health--Selectivity and Acculturation," Labor and Demography 0412002, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Fernando Riosmena & Rebeca Wong & Alberto Palloni, 2013. "Migration Selection, Protection, and Acculturation in Health: A Binational Perspective on Older Adults," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(3), pages 1039-1064, June.
    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. Barbieri, Paolo Nicola, 2016. "The heterogeneity in immigrants unhealthy assimilation," MPRA Paper 71560, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Janisch, Laura M., 2017. "Mental health assimilation of Australian immigrants," Ruhr Economic Papers 728, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    3. Ruhnke, Simon A. & Reynolds, Megan M. & Wilson, Fernando A. & Stimpson, Jim P., 2022. "A healthy migrant effect? Estimating health outcomes of the undocumented immigrant population in the United States using machine learning," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    4. Gabriella Berloffa & Francesca Paolini, 2019. "Decomposing Immigrant Differences in Physical and Mental Health: A 'Beyond the Mean' Analysis," DEM Working Papers 2019/4, Department of Economics and Management.
    5. Barbieri, Paolo Nicola & Nguyen, Hieu M., 2021. "When in America, do as the Americans? The evolution of health behaviors and outcomes across immigrant cohorts," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    6. Gabriella Berloffa & Francesca Paolini, 2022. "Going "beyond the mean" in analysing immigrant health disparities," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 47(7), pages 161-198.
    7. Amelie F. Constant & Teresa García-Muñoz & Shoshana Neuman & Tzahi Neuman, 2018. "A “healthy immigrant effect” or a “sick immigrant effect”? Selection and policies matter," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 19(1), pages 103-121, January.
    8. Sukanya Basu & Michael A. Insler, 2018. "The Body Mass Index Assimilation of US Immigrants: Do Diet and Exercise Contribute?," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 44(3), pages 337-363, June.
    9. Constant, Amelie F. & Milewski, Nadja, 2021. "Self-selection in physical and mental health among older intra-European migrants," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    10. Bhagyashree Katare & Timothy K. M. Beatty, 2018. "Do environmental factors drive obesity? Evidence from international graduate students," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(10), pages 1567-1593, October.
    11. Talita Monsores Paixão & Liliane Reis Teixeira & Carlos Augusto Ferreira de Andrade & Debora Sepulvida & Martha Martinez-Silveira & Camila Nunes & Carlos Eduardo Gomes Siqueira, 2023. "Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Metabolic Syndrome and Its Components in Latino Immigrants to the USA," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-33, January.
    12. Nguyen, Hieu, 2019. "How does alcohol access affect transitional adults’ healthy dietary behaviors?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 82-95.
    13. Oshan, Taylor M. & Smith, Jordan & Fotheringham, Alexander Stewart, 2020. "Targeting the spatial context of obesity determinants via multiscale geographically weighted regression," OSF Preprints u7j29, Center for Open Science.
    14. Olubukola Oduntan & Ian Ruthven, 2021. "People and places: Bridging the information gaps in refugee integration," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 72(1), pages 83-96, January.
    15. Giuntella, Osea, 2017. "Why does the health of Mexican immigrants deteriorate? New evidence from linked birth records," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1-16.
    16. George J. Borjas & David J.G. Slusky, 2018. "Health, Employment, and Disability: Implications from the Undocumented Population," NBER Working Papers 24504, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Bousmah, Marwân-al-Qays & Combes, Jean-Baptiste Simon & Abu-Zaineh, Mohammad, 2019. "Health differentials between citizens and immigrants in Europe: A heterogeneous convergence," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(2), pages 235-243.

    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. Barbieri, Paolo Nicola, 2016. "The heterogeneity in immigrants unhealthy assimilation," MPRA Paper 71560, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Susan Averett & Laura Argys & Jennifer Kohn, 2012. "Immigration, obesity and labor market outcomes in the UK," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 1(1), pages 1-19, December.
    3. Zaiceva, A. & Zimmermann, K.F., 2016. "Migration and the Demographic Shift," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 119-177, Elsevier.
    4. Giuntella, Osea, 2017. "Why does the health of Mexican immigrants deteriorate? New evidence from linked birth records," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1-16.
    5. Barbieri, Paolo Nicola & Nguyen, Hieu M., 2021. "When in America, do as the Americans? The evolution of health behaviors and outcomes across immigrant cohorts," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    6. Leigh Ann Leung, 2014. "Healthy And Unhealthy Assimilation: Country Of Origin And Smoking Behavior Among Immigrants," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(12), pages 1411-1429, December.
    7. Jonas Kinge & Tom Kornstad, 2014. "Assimilation effects on infant mortality among immigrants in Norway: Does maternal source country matter?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 31(26), pages 779-812.
    8. Johanna Catherine Maclean & Douglas Webber & Jody L. Sindelar, 2018. "Immigration and Access to Fringe Benefits: Evidence from the Tobacco Use Supplements," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(2), pages 235-259, April.
    9. Nguyen, Hieu, 2019. "How does alcohol access affect transitional adults’ healthy dietary behaviors?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 82-95.
    10. Susan L. Averett & Laura M. Argys & Jennifer L. Kohn, 2013. "Immigrants, wages and obesity: the weight of the evidence," Chapters, in: Amelie F. Constant & Klaus F. Zimmermann (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Migration, chapter 13, pages 242-256, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Bettin, Giulia & Sacchi, Agnese, 2020. "Health spending in Italy: The impact of immigrants," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    12. Lee, Taehoon & Peri, Giovanni & Viarengo, Martina, 2022. "The gender aspect of migrants’ assimilation in Europe," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    13. Sweetman, A. & van Ours, J.C., 2014. "Immigration : What About the Children and Grandchildren?," Discussion Paper 2014-009, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    14. Paul Berbée & Jan Stuhler, 2023. "The Integration of Migrants in the German Labor Market: Evidence over 50 Years," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 2315, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    15. Osea Giuntella & Fabrizio Mazzonna, 2014. "Do Immigrants Bring Good Health?," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 653, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    16. Reynolds, Megan M. & Chernenko, Alla & Read, Jen'nan Ghazal, 2016. "Region of origin diversity in immigrant health: Moving beyond the Mexican case," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 102-109.
    17. Christina J. Diaz & Liwen Zeng & Ana P. Martinez-Donate, 2018. "Investigating Health Selection Within Mexico and Across the US Border," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 37(2), pages 181-204, April.
    18. Christian Dustmann & Hyejin Ku & Tetyana Surovtseva, 2024. "Real Exchange Rates and the Earnings of Immigrants," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(657), pages 271-294.
    19. Giuntella, Osea & Mazzonna, Fabrizio, 2015. "Do immigrants improve the health of natives?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 140-153.
    20. Carl Lin, 2016. "How Do Immigrants From Taiwan Fare In The U.S. Labor Market?," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 61(05), pages 1-38, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    healthy immigrant effect; health assimilation;

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General

    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:dp9664. 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.