Working Paper: NBER ID: w26414
Authors: William J. Collins; Ariell Zimran
Abstract: Whether immigrants advance in labor markets during their lifetime relative to natives is a fundamental question in the economics of immigration. We examine linked census records for five cohorts, spanning 1850-1940, when immigration to the United States was at its peak. We find a U-shaped pattern of assimilation: immigrants were “catching up” to natives in the early and later cohorts, but not in between. This change was not due to shifts in immigrants’ source countries. Instead, it was rooted in men’s early-career occupations, which we associate with structural change, strengthening complementarities, and large immigration waves in the 1840s and 1900s.
Keywords: immigration; labor market assimilation; economic mobility
JEL Codes: J61; J62; N11; N12; N13; N14
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| earliest and latest cohorts of European immigrants (N33) | significant upward mobility in occupational status relative to natives (J62) |
| intermediate cohorts (1870-1900 and 1900-1930) (B15) | no significant upward mobility in occupational status relative to natives (J69) |
| timing of arrival (C41) | relative gains for immigrants (J61) |
| prevailing economic conditions (E66) | relative gains for immigrants (J61) |
| structural changes in the economy (L16) | shifts in young men's occupational distributions (J62) |
| initial distributions of occupations (J69) | changes in immigrants' relative upgrading (J69) |
| young immigrants concentrated in unskilled labor (J69) | high rates of occupational upgrading (J62) |
| young natives moving into white-collar jobs (J62) | relative gains for immigrants (J61) |