Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/145196 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 10062
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Numerous studies find that U.S.-born Hispanics differ significantly from non-Hispanic whites on important measures of human capital, including health. Nevertheless, almost all studies rely on subjective measures of ethnic self-identification to identify immigrants' U.S.-born descendants. This can lead to bias due to "ethnic attrition," which occurs whenever a U.S.-born descendant of a Hispanic immigrant fails to self-identify as Hispanic. This paper shows that Mexican American ethnic attritors are generally more likely to display health outcomes closer to those of non-Hispanic whites. This biases conventional estimates of Mexican American health away from suggesting patterns of assimilation and convergence with non-Hispanic whites.
Subjects: 
ethnic attrition
assimilation
identity
JEL: 
J15
J12
I14
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
249.49 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.