Transferability of Human Capital and Immigrant Assimilation: An Analysis for Germany

Leilanie Basilio, Thomas Bauer () and Anica Kramer

No 671, SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research from DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP)

Abstract: This paper investigates the transferability of human capital across countries and the contribution of imperfect human capital portability to the explanation of the immigrant-native wage gap. Using data for West Germany, our results reveal that, overall, education and in particular labor market experience accumulated in the home countries of the immigrants receive signifiantly lower returns than human capital obtained in Germany. We further find evidence for heterogeneity in the returns to human capital of immigrants across countries. Finally, imperfect human capital transferability appears to be a major factor in explaining the wage differential between natives and immigrants.

Keywords: Human Capital; Rate of Return; Immigration; Assimilation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J24 J31 J61 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 37 p.
Date: 2014
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur, nep-hrm, nep-lab, nep-lma, nep-ltv, nep-mig and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.470481.de/diw_sp0671.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Transferability of Human Capital and Immigrant Assimilation: An Analysis for Germany (2017)
Working Paper: Transferability of Human Capital and Immigrant Assimilation: An Analysis for Germany (2013)
Working Paper: Transferability of Human Capital and Immigrant Assimilation: An Analysis for Germany (2010)
Working Paper: Transferability of Human Capital and Immigrant Assimilation – An Analysis for Germany (2010)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp671

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