Information and immigrant settlement

Toman Barsbai, Victoria Licuanan, Andreas Steinmayr, Erwin Tiongson and Dean Yang

Journal of Development Economics, 2024, vol. 170, issue C

Abstract: We study a randomly-assigned program providing information on U.S. settlement for new Filipino immigrants. The intervention, a 2.5-hour pre-departure training and an accompanying paper handbook, has no effect on employment, settlement, and subjective wellbeing, but leads immigrants to acquire substantially fewer social network connections. We rationalize these findings with a simple model, showing that information and social network links are substitutes under reasonable assumptions. Consistent with the model, the treatment reduces social network links more when costs of acquiring network links are lower. Offsetting reductions in the acquisition of social network connections can hence reduce the effectiveness of information interventions.

Keywords: Immigrant integration; Social networks; Imperfect information; Multiple hypothesis testing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D83 F22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Working Paper: Information and Immigrant Settlement (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:deveco:v:170:y:2024:i:c:s0304387824000543

DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2024.103305

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