Barry R. Chiswick

The Effect of Americanization on the Earnings of Foreign-born Men

The earnings of foreign-born adult white men, as reported in the 1970 Census of Population, are analyzed through comparisons with the native born and among the foreign born by country of origin, years in the United States, and citizenship. Differences in the effects of schooling and postschool training are explored. Although immigrants initially earn less than the native born, their earnings rise more rapidly with U.S. labor market experience, and after 10 to 15 years their earnings equal, and then exceed, that of the native born. Earnings are unrelated to whether the foreign born are U.S. citizens.

The Endogeneity between Language and Earnings: International Analyses

This study is concerned with the determinants of dominant language fluency, its effects on earnings, and its endogeneity with earnings among immigrants. Dominant language fluency is hypothesized to be a function of three fundamental variables: exposure to the language, efficiency in second language acquisition, and economic benefits from language fluency. Conceptual variables with empirical counterparts are developed. Earnings are hypothesized to be a function of language skills, among other variables. Ordinary least squares, instrumental variables, and sample selection bias techniques are used to estimate the equations for Australia. Comparisons are made with analyses for the United States, Canada, and Israel.

Immigrant earnings: Language skills, linguistic concentrations and the business cycle

Abstract. This study of the determinants of earnings among adult foreign-born men using the 1990 Census of Population focuses on the effects of the respondents own English language skills, the effects of living in a linguistic concentration area, and the effects of the stage of the business cycle at entry into the U.S. labor market. The analysis demonstrates the importance of English language fluency among the foreign born from non-English speaking countries. There is also strong evidence for the complementarity between language skills and other forms of human capital. Furthermore, there is strong evidence using selectivity correction techniques for the endogeneity between language and earnings.

Speaking, Reading, and Earnings among Low-Skilled Immigrants

This article is concerned with the determinants of English language fluency among immigrants and the effects of fluency on earnings. Using special survey data on a sample of over 800 aliens, the analysis shows the importance of certain variables not previously available, speaking fluency at migration and English reading fluency. English speaking and reading fluency both increase with duration in the United States, and the increase with duration is greater for those with more schooling and who are not Hispanic. The article shows that reading fluency is more important than speaking fluency as a determinant of earnings.

Do Enclaves Matter in Immigrant Adjustment

This paper is concerned with the determinants and consequences of immigrant/linguistic concentrations (enclaves). The reasons for the formation of these concentrations are discussed. Hypotheses are developed regarding “ethnic goods” and the effect of concentrations on the immigrants language skills, as well as the effects on immigrant earnings of destination language skills and the linguistic concentration. These hypotheses are tested using PUMS data from the 1990 U.S. Census on adult male immigrants from non‐English speaking countries. Linguistic concentrations reduce the immigrants own English language skills. Moreover, immigrants earnings are lower the lower their English‐language proficiency and the greater the linguistic/ethnic concentration in their origin language of the area in which they live. The adverse effects on earnings of poor destination language skills and of immigrant concentrations exist independently of each other. The hypotheses regarding ethnic goods are supported by the data.

Is the new immigration less skilled than the old

This paper analyzes trends in the skills of immigrants to the United States in the post-World War II period. Changes in the supply, demand, and institutional factors determining immigration are analyzed for their implications for immigrant skills. The empirical analysis uses INS administrative data, the 1970 and 1980 censuses, and the 1976 Survey of Income and Education. Relatively more immigrants are now coming from countries whose nationals earn less in the United States. The schooling level of immigrants has been fairly stable; the declining level for the growing Hispanic immigration is offset by the high level of the increasing Asian immigration. Immigrant quality, ceteris paribus, is analyzed. Policy implications are discussed.

Longitudinal Analysis of Immigrant Occupational Mobility: A Test of the Immigrant Assimilation Hypothesis

This article develops a model of the occupational mobility of immigrants and tests the hypotheses using data on males from the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia, Panel I. The theoretical model generates hypotheses regarding a U-shaped pattern of occupational mobility from the “last job” in the origin, to the “first job” in the destination, to subsequent jobs in the destination, and regarding the depth of the “U.” The survey includes data on pre-immigration occupation, the “first” occupation in Australia (at six months) and the occupation after about three-and-a-half years in Australia. The hypotheses are supported by the empirical analysis.

A Model of Destination-Language Acquisition: Application to Male Immigrants in Canada*

We develop a model using human capital theory and an immigrant adjustment process to generate hypotheses on the acquisition of destination-language skills among immigrants. The model is tested for adult male immigrants in the 1991 Census of Canada. Use of English or French is greater, the younger the age at migration, the longer the duration of residence, the higher the educational attainment, the farther the country of origin from Canada, and the linguistically closer the mother tongue to English or French, and among those who are not refugees, those from a former British, French, or American colony, and those who live in an area where fewer people speak the respondent’s mother tongue. The explanatory variables based on birthplace have behavioral interpretations and possess almost as much explanatory power as the birthplace dummy variables

Linguistic Distance: A Quantitative Measure of the Distance Between English and Other Languages

This paper develops a scalar or quantitative measure of the ‘distance’ between English and a myriad of other (non-native American) languages. This measure is based on the difficulty Americans have learning other languages. The linguistic distance measure is then used in an analysis of the determinants of English language proficiency among adult immigrants in the USA and Canada. It is shown that, when other determinants of English language proficiency are the same, the greater the measure of linguistic distance, the poorer is the respondents English language proficiency. This measure can be used in research, evaluation and practitioner analyses, and for diagnostic purposes regarding linguistic minorities in English-speaking countries. The methodology can also be applied to develop linguistic distance measures for other languages.

Ethnic Networks and Language Proficiency among Immigrants

Recent research on the linguistic adjustment of minority-language speaking immigrants in several destinations has found that acquisition of destination language skills is inhibited by living in an area where many others speak the same minority language. This paper uses a unique data set for Australia (1988) that includes a variety of ethnic network variables to analyze the role of the language concentration measure. These ethnic variables, in particular, ethnic press, relatives in Australia, and spouse’s origin language, are highly statistically significant. Their inclusion in the equation eliminates the effect of the minority-language concentration variable. The model for analyzing the determinants of English reading and English writing skills in Australia is also shown to be very similar to the model for speaking fluency, including the effect of the ethnic network variables.