Industrial and Labor Relations Review
Volume 50, Issue 2, 1997, Pages 289-303

The labor market status of immigrants: Effects of the unemployment rate at arrival and duration of residence (Article)

Chiswick B.R.* , Cohen Y. , Zach T.
  • a Department of Economics, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, United States
  • b Department of Labor Studies, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Israel
  • c [Affiliation not available]

Abstract

Combining Current Population Survey samples from November 1979, April 1983, June 1986, and June 1988, all of which included data on country of birth and year of immigration, the authors examine patterns of immigrant employment and unemployment. Human capital was less strongly linked to employment status for immigrant men than for native-born white men, probably because human capital acquired outside the United States was only imperfectly transferable to the U.S. labor market. Immigrants had some initial difficulty finding work, but their employment and unemployment rates quickly attained levels comparable to those of the native-born. There is no evidence that immigrants who arrived in a recession were subjected to a long-term "scarring" effect. Immigrants' labor market status appears to have been somewhat more sensitive to cyclical changes in economic activity than was that of the native-born.

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Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-0000986577&doi=10.1177%2f001979399705000206&partnerID=40&md5=ded8da79d1f238fcdb0a7b2d8816ac62

DOI: 10.1177/001979399705000206
ISSN: 00197939
Cited by: 114
Original Language: English