Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP6086
Authors: Laura Zimmermann; Klaus F. Zimmermann; Amelie Constant
Abstract: This paper uses the concept of ethnic self-identification of immigrants in a two-dimensional framework. It acknowledges the fact that attachments to the home and the host country are not necessarily mutually exclusive. There are three possible paths of adjustment from separation at entry, namely the transitions to assimilation, integration and marginalization. We analyze the determinants of ethnic self-identification in this process using samples of first-generation immigrants for males and females separately, and controlling for pre- and post-migration characteristics. We find strong gender differences and the unimportance of a wide range of pre-migration characteristics like religion and education at home.
Keywords: ethnic self-identification; ethnicity; first-generation immigrants; gender
JEL Codes: F22; J15; J16; Z10
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| age at entry (L26) | ethnic self-identification (J15) |
| no education or higher degree in Germany (I29) | feeling integrated (F02) |
| years since immigration (K37) | feeling integrated (F02) |
| Mediterranean immigrants (F22) | feeling marginalized (J15) |
| Turkish immigrants (F22) | feeling marginalized (J15) |