Brain gain from Asia: educational and occupational selection of Asian migrants into the United States
International Journal of Manpower
ISSN: 0143-7720
Article publication date: 30 August 2022
Issue publication date: 1 May 2023
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates how working-age Asian immigrants' educational attainment and professional abilities when arriving in the United States have evolved over the past 4 decades and draws inferences on the impact of the US employment based visa policies.
Design/methodology/approach
Using data from the 1980, 1990 and 2000 census and American Community Survey for 2001 to 2019, the study adopts multivariate regression and regression discontinuity design to investigate the trends in educational and occupation selection among Asian immigrants and the association with policy changes in the H1B visa program.
Findings
The findings suggest that new Asian immigrants were more positively selected for education than non-Asian immigrants and US natives and this pattern of positive selection increased over time. Newly arrived South Asian and East Asian immigrants had the highest share of highly educated professionals than Southeast Asians and US-born persons. I infer that the enactment and changes in the H1-B program might have contributed to the changing patterns of the educational and occupational selection among East and South Asian Immigrants. The results also shed light on how Asian immigrants' skill selection might be related to the size of Asian diasporas in the US and sending countries' income, inequality and education level.
Originality/value
The story of changing the skill profile (educational and occupational profile) of newly arrived Asian immigrants during 1980–2019 can provide valuable policy implications. US immigration policies are routinely criticized for being inefficient and outdated. The economic prosperity of Asian countries over time also provides an excellent opportunity to test the theories pertaining to how sending countries' income, inequality and education level of the population are associated with Asian migrants' education and occupation when arriving in the US. This study can provide insightful perspectives for policymakers and business decision-makers to adapt to the changing demographics of Asian migrant workers. The most recent reports on Asian immigrants in the US highlighted the aggregated trends of migration flow and education. Still, none have provided a longitudinal and nuanced review of Asian immigrants' educational and occupational selection into the US.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Funding: This research is supported by Columbia University Weatherhead East Asian Institute.
Citation
Huang, X. (2023), "Brain gain from Asia: educational and occupational selection of Asian migrants into the United States", International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 44 No. 3, pp. 373-402. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-08-2021-0488
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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