Erez Siniver

The Return to English in a Non-English Speaking Country: Russian Immigrants and Native Israelis in Israel

Abstract Using a unique sample of Russian immigrants and native Israelis, we examine the return to English knowledge. Panel and cross-section estimates of the return to English are substantial for highly educated immigrants and natives. Hebrew and English language acquisition contribute to immigrant/native earnings convergence, but most convergence is explained by other factors. While immigrants with low levels of education do not benefit from knowing English, native Israelis may. Conditional on occupation, English and Hebrew acquisition are largely orthogonal. Therefore earlier work on the importance of knowledge of the host-country language (Hebrew) is not significantly biased by unmeasured English knowledge.

Testing for Statistical Discrimination: The Case of Immigrant Physicians in Israel

Two models have been proposed to explain why two groups of workers who have the same level of productivity can receive different wages: (i) the statistical discrimination model, according to which the discrimination is the result of a rational response to uncertainty about productivity that consists in adopting certain characteristics as proxies for productivity and (ii) the taste�?based discrimination model, according to which the discrimination is based on prejudice against a particular group. It is usually difficult to determine empirically whether the gap in earnings is due to statistical or taste�?based discrimination. However, the conditions for a natural experiment were created in 1989 when Israel introduced a licensing examination for immigrant physicians arriving from that point onward, thus making it possible to determine which type of discrimination is responsible for the wage gap between immigrant and native physicians. Controlling for other factors, the paper finds that: (1) the earnings of physicians who immigrated to Israel after 1989 are significantly higher than those of physicians who immigrated previously and (2) the earnings of immigrant physicians who have taken the licensing examination converge to those of native physicians after an average of 5.5 years. These results constitute evidence that the difference in earnings between native and immigrant physicians is due to statistical, rather than taste�?based, discrimination.

Overeating in all-you-can-eat buffet: paying before versus paying after

A widespread meal-serving system commonly blamed for contributing to the obesity epidemic is the all-you-can-eat buffet, where customers can help themselves to as much food as they wish to eat in a single meal for a fixed entry price. We set forth the hypothesis that buffet restaurants’ practice of collecting the price in advance, rather than at the end of the meal, encourages overeating. Viewing advance payment as a token of disrespectful treatment, we first establish this result theoretically by extending two recent and competing models on buffet behaviour to take account of the customer’s treatment experience. We then report the results of two experiments conducted in a sushi restaurant which support our hypothesis. The experiments reveal, ceteris paribus, that paying for the buffet meal after eating reduces sushi consumption by about 4.5 units, as compared to paying before eating. The result bears a straightforward and simple policy implication: To help reduce obesity, buffet restaurants should be banned from collecting the price in advance.

Social involvement, level of income and employment among immigrants : The Israeli experience

Purpose - – Previous studies of immigrant populations suggest that ceteris paribus an immigrants level of income is strongly and positively correlated with his proficiency in the local language. The purpose of this paper is to extend this literature using data from a telephone survey carried out in 2005 among a representative sample of Former Soviet Union (FSU) immigrants. Unlike previous surveys, the data includes responses to detailed subjective questions on degree of social involvement, in addition to the number of years since migration and level of proficiency in the local language. The authors are able to demonstrate that a higher degree of assimilation is associated with a significantly higher likelihood of finding full-time employment. Moreover, the estimation results for the wage equation reveal that the effect on income previously attributed solely to language proficiency is in fact also the result of more successful assimilation in the receiving culture. The findings thus stress the importance of assimilation in determining success in job search and in explaining variations in income among immigrants who are already employed in full-time jobs. Finally, the results obtained when differentiating according to gender show that male immigrants have better prospects of finding a job than female immigrants and higher incomes once they find one, which is consistent with the existing literature. Design/methodology/approach - – In order to compare the relative importance of the language proficiency variable ( Findings - –The authors are able to demonstrate that a higher degree of assimilation is associated with a significantly higher likelihood of finding full-time employment. Moreover, the estimation results for the wage equation reveal that the effect on income previously attributed solely to language proficiency is in fact also the result of more successful assimilation in the receiving culture. The findings thus stress the importance of assimilation in determining success in job search and in explaining variations in income among immigrants who are already employed in full-time jobs. Finally, the results obtained when differentiating according to gender show that male immigrants have better prospects of finding a job than female immigrants and higher incomes once they find one, which is consistent with the existing literature. Research limitations/implications - – The limitation is, like all of the existing literature and in particular the few studies that deal with social networking, that the database is exclusively based on either interviews or surveys consisting of self-assessment questions (such as, Dustman, 1996; Lazear, 1999; Amuedo-Dorantes and Mundra, 2007). Consequently, the implicit assumption is that the respondents self-perceived level of assimilation constitutes a good proxy for the true level. Practical implications - – The implications are the following: the findings are thus consistent with those of Lazear (1999), who anticipates a negative correlation between the relative size of a minority group and the level of proficiency in the local language. In the case of Israel, which received a massive wave of 1.5 million immigrants from the FSU, the findings indeed suggest that the chances of an immigrant job seeker finding a job are far more dependent on his degree of assimilation than his level of language proficiency. Moreover, the effect of the degree of assimilation, which has not previously been included in estimations, was mistakenly attributed to language proficiency. The findings of this research thus reveal the importance of the degree of assimilation in finding a job and can explain income differences among those who have already found full-time employment. Originality/value - – Previous studies of immigrant populations suggest that ceteris paribus the level of income is strongly and positively correlated with proficiency in the local language. The current study extends this literature using data from a telephone survey carried out in 2005 among a representative sample of FSU immigrants. Unlike previous surveys, the data includes responses to detailed subjective questions on degree of social involvement, in addition to the number of years since migration and level of proficiency in the local language. The authors are able to demonstrate that a higher degree of assimilation is associated with a significantly higher likelihood of finding full-time employment. Moreover, the estimation results for the wage equation reveal that the effect on income previously attributed to language proficiency is in fact the result of more successful assimilation in the receiving culture. The results are robust to gender differences. The findings thus stress the importance of assimilation in determining success in job search and in explaining variations in income among immigrants who are already employed in full-time jobs.

The Motherhood Penalty: Is It a Wage-Dependent Family Decision?

Abstract Recent studies have shown that even highly skilled women suffer a motherhood wage penalty, resulting in reduced pay relative to childless women. We use a unique dataset of all Israeli women who graduated college or university during the period 1995–2008 and their husbands to investigate whether the motherhood penalty is the result of a household decision. Thus, we investigate whether the wage gap between husband and wife before they have children affects the decision of which spouse will be the main provider and which will have the main responsibility for childrearing. We find that the couple’s initial wage ratio does not affect this decision, since a woman almost always bears the opportunity cost of childrearing even if she has a much higher starting wage than her husband.

Even education has its limits: closing the wage gap

Purpose - – Economic outcomes are compared for university graduates in Israel belonging to four different ethnic groups. A unique data set is used that includes all individuals who graduated with a first degree from universities and colleges in Israel between the years 1995 and 2008 and which tracks them for up to ten years from the year they graduated. The main finding is that education and experience appear to have a strong effect on earnings in the long run and that an ethnic group can improve its position relative to certain groups while there is no effect relative to other groups. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach - – The authors consider three of the main factors determining the success of assimilation: size of the ethnic group; cultural differences between groups and skin color; and examine how these factors affect economic outcomes. The authors use a unique data set that includes all individuals who graduated with a first degree from universities and colleges in Israel between the years 1995 and 2008. Findings - – The results obtained in this study show that on average native Jews attain the best economic outcomes, followed by FSU immigrants, Israeli Arabs and finally Ethiopian immigrants. Education and experience appear to have a strong effect on earnings in the long run. An ethnic group can improve its position relative to other groups as they accumulate work experience. Originality/value - – This is the first time that the Ethiopian immigrants where taken into account.