Full Citation

Title: The Economic Integration of Immigrants and Regional Resilience

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2016

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ISSN:

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/juaf.12205

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Abstract: This article explores variation in the economic integration of immigrants across U.S. metropolitan areas and tests a basic hypothesis that greater economic integration promotes regional resilience. Here we construct two quantitative indexes of occupational diversity as primary indicators of economic integration and develop a conceptual framework of social, economic, and spatial factors that are likely to shape occupational diversity at the regional scale. We conduct an exploratory quantitative analysis in two steps. First, we model labor market diversity in 2000 with metro level data drawn primarily from the Building Resilient Regions (BRR) database. Next, we use the occupational diversity indexes as dependent variables and assess whether greater occupational diversity among immigrants led to greater economic resilience between 2000 and 2010, as measured by changes in unemployment rate and real wage growth. We find some evidence that immigrants in regions that have more broadly integrated immigrants (across occupations) were relatively more resilient in the face of the economic shocks of the Great Recession.

Url: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1111/juaf.12205?scroll=top&needAccess=true

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Authors: Lester, William, T; Nyugen, Mai Thi

Periodical (Full): Journal of Urban Affairs

Issue: 1

Volume: 38

Pages: 42-60

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure

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