Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP2750
Authors: Gil S. Epstein; Tikva Lecker
Abstract: The literature, starting with Chiswick (1977, 1978) to Gang and Zimmermann (2000) more recently, focuses on the economic achievements and performance of first- and second-generation migrants. This Paper presents a three-generation migrant analysis, comparing relative economic performance of various migrant generations to one another and to the native population. We develop a theoretical model, which is then explored empirically using data from the 1995 Israeli Census. In both the theoretical and empirical analyses, the curve describing intergenerational immigrant earnings mobility is inversely U-shaped. The second generation earns relatively more than the first and third generations, while the third generation earns less than the second, but more than the first. Thus, assimilation of the third generation into the local population is far from clear.
Keywords: intergenerational earnings mobility; labour market performance; migration
JEL Codes: F22
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| First-generation earnings (J31) | Second-generation educational investment (I26) |
| First-generation earnings (J31) | Second-generation labor market performance (J29) |
| Second-generation educational investment (I26) | Second-generation earnings (D33) |
| First-generation earnings (J31) | Third-generation earnings (J39) |
| Second-generation earnings (D33) | Third-generation earnings (J39) |
| Third-generation performance (D29) | Second-generation performance (D29) |
| First-generation earnings (J31) | Second-generation work effort (J29) |
| Second-generation work effort (J29) | Second-generation earnings (D33) |