Does intermarriage promote economic assimilation among immigrants in the United States?
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether immigrants in the USA receive an earnings premium associated with marrying a native.
Design/methodology/approach
The raw premium revealed by the 2000 US Census data is suspect due to possible endogeneity and selection bias. Instrumental variables estimation, a sample selection model, and a counterfactual construction method are used to address these issues.
Findings
Results suggest a positive and modest intermarriage premium, although the magnitude varies with the estimation technique. The evidence is particularly strong for immigrants with high English proficiency, college graduates, and immigrants older than 12 upon arrival in the USA.
Originality/value
It is shown that the size of intermarriage premiums varies significantly across different immigrant groups. The empirical results provide insights into the economic assimilation process and mechanisms through which intermarriage influences the labor market outcomes of immigrants.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author gratefully acknowledges comments and suggestions provided by Scott Adams, Keith Bender, Christopher Bollinger, Scott Drewianka, Antonio Galvao, John Heywood, N. Kundan Kishor, and seminar participants at several universities and conferences. I am responsible for all errors that remain.
Citation
Chi, M. (2015), "Does intermarriage promote economic assimilation among immigrants in the United States?", International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 36 No. 7, pp. 1034-1057. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-05-2013-0112
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited