Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/125036 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 9500
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper analyzes the impact of missionary activity on English language proficiency and labor market earnings of all immigrants to the United States by using the pooled files of the American Community Survey (2005-09). We consider the colonial heritage of the origin country to determine if it is a missionary effect or an effect of colonial rule. Our results suggest immigrants from countries with a high concentration of Protestant missionaries tend to exhibit higher levels of English proficiency and earnings compared to Catholic missionaries. Furthermore, a higher proficiency in English enhances earnings. One of the important implications of the findings in this paper is that a "missionary variable" often used in other studies is too aggregate and may mask important findings because of strikingly different effects of Protestant and Catholic activities.
Subjects: 
immigrants
Protestant
Catholic
missionaries
earnings
schooling
English language
proficiency
American Community Survey
JEL: 
F22
J61
J31
J24
Z12
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
265.14 kB





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