The role of human capital in international migration
Abstract
In many European countries, the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, immigrants account for over ten percent of the population, and their governments find themselves faced with crucial issues surrounding the impacts of immigrants on their countries, from social integration and political stability to welfare benefits. This research adds to the interdisciplinary efforts of understanding the intricacies of immigration by focusing on the nexus between immigrant behavior and the socio-economic context, including its spatial manifestations. Immigrants' human capital acquisition is the focal point in both the theoretical and empirical examination of micro-behavior and aggregate outcomes. The dissertation tests new theories and employs innovative techniques in the investigation of three themes. First, the pivotal role of location, both in terms of residence and place of work, on immigrants' decisions to enhance their human capital through assimilation is analyzed with an empirical model of immigrants in U.S. metropolitan areas. Results indicate the importance of location choice and relative levels of human capital in the socio-economic outcomes of immigrants. Specifically, we find that living and working in ethnically segregated places reduces immigrants' incentive to assimilate. The relative effect of residential and occupational segregation depends on the immigrant group. Next, the factors influencing the job-education mismatch among immigrants in the U.S. over the past thirty years are analyzed. Only around one-third of U.S. immigrants have the required amount of education for their occupation. The prevalence of undereducation is highest for Mexican immigrants whereas immigrants from the main Asian origins, China, India and the Philippines tend to be overeducated. Finally, the impacts of immigration on the crowding out of the native labor force are investigated. Our results indicate that immigrants have a negative impact on the quantity of jobs available to natives with lower education levels. The extent of this crowding-out is greater when the immigrant sample is restricted to new immigrants and in service occupations.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Waldorf, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Agricultural economics
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