Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/106567 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 8626
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Previous studies show that immigrants married to natives earn higher wages than immigrants married to other immigrants. Using data from the 1980-2000 U.S. censuses and the 2005-2010 American Community Surveys, we show that these wage premiums have increased over time. Our evidence suggests that the trends cannot be explained by changes in the attributes of immigrants that tend to marry natives but are instead most likely a result of increasing returns to the characteristics of immigrants married to natives. Because immigrants married to natives tend to have more schooling, part of the increasing premium can be explained by increases in the returns to a college education. However, we find increasing intermarriage premiums even when allowing the returns to schooling as well as English-speaking ability to vary over time. We believe these patterns are driven by changes in technology and globalization which have made communication and management skills more valuable in the U.S. labor market.
Subjects: 
intermarriage
wage premium
immigration
globalization
JEL: 
J12
J24
J31
J61
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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