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Title: Is the payoff to overeducation smaller for Caribbean immigrants? Evidence from hierarchical models in the United States labour market
Citation Type: Journal Article
Publication Year: 2009
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Abstract: This paper examines the overeducation/undereducation and required (OUR) returns to education hypothesis among Caribbean immigrants in the labour market of the United States of America using the IPUMS 5% sample.140 The results show that Caribbean immigrants in the United States receive lower returns than the native born despite being in the United States for some time. The methodology employed is somewhat different to the traditional approach, as a hierarchical model is used to account for the nesting of individuals within occupation, or for the presence of fixed effects due to differences in occupation. The results suggest that overeducation, though common to both the native born and to Caribbean immigrants, is rewarded less among immigrants and represents an underutilization of resources. It was also observed that Caribbean immigrants have higher levels of undereducation relative to the native born. The paper suggests ways in which immigration policies could be crafted to improve the return to education of immigrants who bring considerable pre-immigration experience to the labour market, to create win-win situations for both sending and receiving countries. With respect to sending countries, it is argued that improved returns to overeducation add to immigrant wealth which allows those who wish to return to the Caribbean, often with improved skills and expertise, to do so much earlier. Secondly, this translates to a possible increased flow of remittances and other resources to the Caribbean. For receiving countries, improved returns to immigrant overeducation reduce the misallocation of resources at the level of the labour market.
Url: https://www.cepal.org/es/publications
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Authors: Alleyne, Dillon
Periodical (Full): Caribbean Development Report
Issue:
Volume: 2
Pages: 225-244
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Education, Migration and Immigration
Countries: United States