Full Citation
Title: The Use of Language and Culture: Does Speaking a Non-English Native Language Hurt or Benefit Immigrant Wages
Citation Type: Miscellaneous
Publication Year: 2008
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Abstract: Using the 5% IPUMS version of the 2000 Census, this paper finds that, compared to another immigrant who has a job that requires less human-interaction on a daily basis, an immigrant worker who possesses knowledge in speaking a non-English language and who works in a human-interaction-intensive occupation would enjoy an average wage benefit of 4.28%. Also, for those who work at a job that values language usage and cultural familiarity, immigrants from the same country of origin are perceived as substitutes, while those from another country would be complements, a finding that is in accordance with the standard labor supply theory, holding demand constant. Moreover, a one standard deviation increase in bilateral trade volume between the United States and the immigrant's country of origin is predicted to enhance the immigrant's returns to working in the Wholesale Trade industry by 3.36% on average, a pattern that is very different for immigrants who came from a country that uses English as an official language.
Url: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4tn3q6gv
User Submitted?: No
Authors: Suen, Karmen
Publisher: University of California, San Diego
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Migration and Immigration, Other
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