Analysis of Labor Market Performance of College- Educated African Immigrants in the United States
Submission Type
Event
Expected Graduation Date
2015
Location
Room C102 Center for Natural Sciences, Illinois Wesleyan University
Start Date
4-18-2015 10:00 AM
End Date
4-18-2015 11:00 AM
Disciplines
Economics
Abstract
Because African immigrants have become a significant presence in the United States in the past few decades, understanding the dynamics of the immigrant labor market is important. In this paper, I build on my previous research which shows incomplete assimilation of African immigrants with natives. I further investigate the effects of immigrant specific variables such as education, time of arrival in the U.S., and English-speaking abilities, on their wages in the U.S. labor market. Using a cross sectional data set from the American Community Survey, this study employs OLS regression analysis to test hypotheses about how the aforementioned human capital and immigration variables affect immigrant and native earnings. Results show that after controlling for education, African immigrants are at an earnings disadvantage compared to natives. I also find that African immigrants that are non-citizens are at a greater disadvantage than those that are naturalized citizens, and late arrivals are at a greater disadvantage than early arrivals.
Analysis of Labor Market Performance of College- Educated African Immigrants in the United States
Room C102 Center for Natural Sciences, Illinois Wesleyan University
Because African immigrants have become a significant presence in the United States in the past few decades, understanding the dynamics of the immigrant labor market is important. In this paper, I build on my previous research which shows incomplete assimilation of African immigrants with natives. I further investigate the effects of immigrant specific variables such as education, time of arrival in the U.S., and English-speaking abilities, on their wages in the U.S. labor market. Using a cross sectional data set from the American Community Survey, this study employs OLS regression analysis to test hypotheses about how the aforementioned human capital and immigration variables affect immigrant and native earnings. Results show that after controlling for education, African immigrants are at an earnings disadvantage compared to natives. I also find that African immigrants that are non-citizens are at a greater disadvantage than those that are naturalized citizens, and late arrivals are at a greater disadvantage than early arrivals.