Full Citation
Title: Living the American Dream? Wage Outcomes of Albanian Immigrants in the United States
Citation Type: Working Paper
Publication Year: 2010
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Abstract: Immigrants human capital and human capital potential is not fully transferrable into wage levelsin the host county. Albania is a recent case in point that offers an opportunity for study. Since thecollapse of the totalitarian regime in 1990, Albania has undergone drastic demographic changes,fueled by unprecedented levels of emigration and disproportionately large shares of those whoare leaving are highly skilled individuals. Albanias brain drain has received a large amount ofresearch attention over the years, but little is known about the possible brain gain for the hostcountry, or brain waste resulting from the over education of the immigrant labor force. Thispaper investigates the issue of human capital transferability by examining the labor marketexperience of this relatively new, little known immigrant group in the United States. Theexamination pays particular attention to three issues: (1) the success of Albanians relative toItalian immigrants; (2) the role of human capital; and (3) performance differences betweenemigrants leaving as refugees during the communist era, and those emigrating during the postcommunistera. The empirical analysis uses pooled data from the 2000 US Census 5% sample,and the 2001-2007 American Community Survey (ACS) 3% sample, accessed from theIntegrated Public Use Micro data Series (IPUMS-USA). Findings of this research suggest thathuman capital acquired at home has a positive impact on wages, but the level of skilltransferability is low for Albanians and human capital acquired in the US has a slightly largerpay-off for Albanian immigrants than for Italian immigrants. Both Italians and Albaniansexperience returns to assimilation at a decreasing rate. Albanian immigrants earn less than Italianimmigrants do, and the gender wage gap among Albanian immigrants is smaller than amongItalian immigrants.
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Authors: Mane, Kate M.; Waldorf, Brigeitte S.
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Publication Number: 10-7
Institution: Purdue University
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Publisher Location: West Lafayette, IN
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Migration and Immigration, Other
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