Full Citation
Title: Chinese Immigrants in the U.S. Labor Market: Effects of Post-Tiananmen Immigration Policy
Citation Type: Conference Paper
Publication Year: 2011
ISBN:
ISSN:
DOI:
NSFID:
PMCID:
PMID:
Abstract: The Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 and ensuing government crackdown affected the Chinese not only at home but around the world. The U.S. government responded to theevents in China by enacting multiple measures to protect Chinese nationals present in the U.S. It first suspended all forced departures among Chinese nationals present in the country as of June 1989 and later gave them authorization to work legally. The Chinese Student Protection Act, passed in October 1992, made those Chinese nationals eligible for lawful permanent resident status. These actions applied to about 80,000 Chinese nationals residing in the U.S. on student or other temporary visas or illegally. Receiving permission to work legally and then a green card is likely to have affected recipients labor market outcomes. This study uses 1990 and 2000 census data to examine employment and earnings among Chinese immigrants who were likely beneficiaries of the U.S. governments actions. Relative to immigrants from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Koreacountries not covered by the post-Tiananmen immigration policy measureshighly-educated immigrants from mainland China experienced significant employment and earnings gains during the 1990s. Chinese immigrants who arrived in the U.S in time to benefit from the measures also had higher relative earnings in 2000 than Chineseimmigrants who arrived too late to benefit. The results suggest that getting legal work status and then a green card has a significant positive effect on skilled migrants labor market outcomes.
User Submitted?: No
Authors: Zavodny, Madeline; Kerr, Emily; Orrenius, Pia
Conference Name: Population Association of America
Publisher Location: Washington, D.C.
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Migration and Immigration
Countries: