Immigrant Employment and Earnings Growth in Canada and the U.S.: Evidence from Longitudinal Data

Neeraj Kaushal (), Yao Lu (), Nicole Denier (), Julia Shu-Huah Wang () and Stephen Trejo
Additional contact information
Neeraj Kaushal: Columbia University
Yao Lu: Columbia University
Nicole Denier: McGill University
Julia Shu-Huah Wang: Columbia University

No 9495, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We study the short-term trajectories of employment, hours worked, and real wages of immigrants in Canada and the U.S. using nationally representative longitudinal datasets covering 1996-2008. Models with person fixed effects show that on average immigrant men in Canada do not experience any relative growth in these three outcomes compared to men born in Canada. Immigrant men in the U.S., on the other hand, experience positive annual growth in all three domains relative to U.S. born men. This difference is largely on account of low-educated immigrant men, who experience faster or longer periods of relative growth in employment and wages in the U.S. than in Canada. We further compare longitudinal and cross-sectional trajectories and find that the latter over-estimate wage growth of earlier arrivals, presumably reflecting selective return migration.

Keywords: immigration; longitudinal data; economic assimilation; Canadian immigrants; U.S. immigrants; employment; wages; comparative study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J15 J18 J3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 47 pages
Date: 2015-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-mig
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published - published in: Journal of Population Economics, 2016, 29 (4), 1249-1277.

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Related works:
Journal Article: Immigrant employment and earnings growth in Canada and the USA: evidence from longitudinal data (2016)
Working Paper: Immigrant Employment and Earnings Growth in Canada and the U.S.: Evidence from Longitudinal Data (2015)
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