Showing papers by "Alejandro Portes published in 2014"

Downsides of social capital.

Abstract: In their article, Levine et al. (1) test the hypothesis that ethnic homogeneity leads to greater errors in the pricing of stocks because of overreliance in the activities and decisions of coethnics. Excessive trust in others, created by ethnic homogeneity, can thus eventuate in price bubbles negatively affecting not only the traders, but the entire economy. The authors test this theory on the basis of two realistic, tightly controlled experiments comparing ethnically homogenous and heterogeneous trading networks. One experiment was conducted in North America, where the relevant ethnics groups were Whites, Latinos, and African Americans; the second was in Southeast Asia, with subjects of Chinese, Indian, and Malaysian origin. The distinctness of the ethnic groups compared in both settings adds to the generalizability of the findings.

Segmented assimilation on the ground: the new second generation in early adulthood

Abstract: Abstract We review the literature on segmented assimilation and alternative theoretical models on the adaptation of the second generation ; summarize the theoretical framework developed in the course of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study [CILS]; and present evidence from its third survey in South Florida bearing on alternative hypotheses. We find that the majority of second-generation youths are moving ahead educationally and occupationally, but that a significant minority is being left behind. The latter group is not distributed randomly across nationalities, but corresponds closely to predictions based on immigrant parents’ human capital, family type, and modes of incorporation. While it is clear that members of the second generation , whether successful or unsuccessful will assimilate – in the sense of learning English and American culture – it makes a great deal of difference whether they do so by joining the mainstream middle-class or the marginalized, and largely racialized, population at the bottom. Narratives drawn from the ethnographic module accompanying the survey put into perspective quantitative results and highlight the realities of segmented assimilation as it takes place today in U.S. society.

Immigration and Public Policy

Abstract: DRAFT – DO NOT DISTRIBUTE, QUOTE OR CITE WITHOUT THE AUTHORS’ PERMISSION. IMMIGRANT AMERICA: A PORTRAIT (4th edition, forthcoming) Alejandro Portes and Ruben G. Rumbaut Chapter 9 Conclusion: Immigration and Public Policy

Los grupos urbanos marginados: Nuevo intento de explicación

Abstract: Publicado originalmente en Revista APORTES, no. 18 (1970). Las imagenes que acompanan este articulo fueron cedidas por la Fundacion Ph15, ONG de fotografia participativa que trabaja con jovenes vulnerables en Buenos Aires.

No margin for error: determinants of achievement among disadvantaged children of immigrants

Abstract: After reviewing the existing literature on second generation adaptation, the paper presents evidence of the process of segmented assimilation on the basis of the latest data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS). This evidence serves as a backdrop for the analysis of determinants of educational and occupational achievement among second generation youths who grow up under conditions of severe disadvantage. Based on interviews with a sample of fifty CILS respondents and their families, the analysis identifies four key causal mechanisms that are common to these «success stories» and that offer the basis for theoretical refinements on how the process of second generation adaptation actually unfolds and for policies to address the needs and aspirations of the most disadvantaged members of this population.

Theoretical Overview: Theories of International Migration and Immigrant Adaptation

Abstract: DRAFT – DO NOT DISTRIBUTE, QUOTE OR CITE WITHOUT THE AUTHORS’ PERMISSION. IMMIGRANT AMERICA: A PORTRAIT (4th edition, forthcoming) Alejandro Portes and Ruben G. Rumbaut Chapter 2 Theoretical Overview