Growing Up in Ethnic Enclaves: Language Proficiency and Educational Attainment of Immigrant Children

Alexander Danzer, Carsten Feuerbaum (), Marc Piopiunik () and Ludger Woessmann
Additional contact information
Carsten Feuerbaum: Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
Marc Piopiunik: Ifo Institute for Economic Research

No 11608, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Does a high regional concentration of immigrants of the same ethnicity affect immigrant children’s acquisition of host-country language skills and educational attainment? We exploit the exogenous placement of guest workers from five ethnicities across German regions during the 1960s and 1970s in a model with region and ethnicity fixed effects. Our results indicate that exposure to a higher own-ethnic concentration impairs immigrant children’s host-country language proficiency and increases school dropout. A key mediating factor for this effect is parents’ lower speaking proficiency in the host-country language, whereas inter-ethnic contacts with natives and economic conditions do not play a role.

Keywords: language; ethnic concentration; immigrant children; education; guest workers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I20 J15 J61 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 49 pages
Date: 2018-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mig and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published - published in: Journal of Population Economics, 2022, 35, 1297 - 1344

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https://docs.iza.org/dp11608.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Growing up in ethnic enclaves: language proficiency and educational attainment of immigrant children (2022)
Working Paper: Growing up in Ethnic Enclaves: Language Proficiency and Educational Attainment of Immigrant Children (2018)
Working Paper: Growing up in Ethnic Enclaves: Language Proficiency and Educational Attainment of Immigrant Children (2018)
Working Paper: Growing up in Ethnic Enclaves: Language Proficiency and Educational Attainment of Immigrant Children (2018)
Working Paper: Growing up in Ethnic Enclaves: Language Proficiency and Educational Attainment of Immigrant Children (2018)
Working Paper: Growing up in Ethnic Enclaves: Language Proficiency and Educational Attainment of Immigrant Children (2018)
Working Paper: Growing Up in Ethnic Enclaves: Language Proficiency and Educational Attainment of Immigrant Children (2018)
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