Language Skill Complementarity: Returns to Immigrant Language Acquisition

Eli Berman, Kevin Lang and Erez Siniver

Boston University - Institute for Economic Development from Boston University, Institute for Economic Development

Abstract: We examine the effect of language acquisition on the growth of immigrants’ earnings. We gathered data on recent Soviet immigrants to Israel that include retrospective questions on earnings and language ability on entry into their current job. Language acquisition is found to interact positively with occupation level. Immigrant programmers and computer technicians have a return to tenure about three percentage points higher than that of natives; improved Hebrew language skills account for between 2/3 and 3/4 of that differential wage growth. In contrast, construction workers and gas station attendants have no convergence of wages to those of natives and language acquisition has no discernible effect on their wages. For these less skilled workers the estimated "return" to Hebrew proficiency in the cross-section is entirely due to ability bias. This finding may invite a reinterpretation of other studies on the returns to language acquisition for low wage immigrants.

Date: 1999-09
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Related works:
Journal Article: Language-skill complementarity: returns to immigrant language acquisition (2003)
Working Paper: Language-Skill Complementarity: Returns to Immigrant Language Acquisition (2000)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fth:bosecd:96

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