The earnings of foreign-born adult white men, as reported in the 1970 Census of Population, are analyzed through comparisons with the native born and among the foreign born by country of origin, years in the United States, and citizenship. Differences in the effects of schooling and postschool training are explored. Although immigrants initially earn less than the native born, their earnings rise more rapidly with U.S. labor market experience, and after 10 to 15 years their earnings equal, and then exceed, that of the native born. Earnings are unrelated to whether the foreign born are U.S. citizens.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/1828415.pdf

The Effect of Americanization on the Earnings of Foreign-born Men

This study was begun while the author was on a Brookings Economic Policy Fellowship in the Office of Economic Research of the Economic Development Administration. Acknowledgements are due Paul L. Burgess, Richardj Cebula, James A. Chalmers, Herbert M. Kaufman, Todd Sandler, WalterJ Wadycki, and the referees for this journal, all of whom have made helpful comments on earlier drafts of the paper and none of whom bears any responsibility for remaining shortcomings.

Research on Internal Migration in the United States: A Survey

The often-used method for decomposing wage differentials into human capital and discrimination components is reformulated so that both t he disadvantage, or "cost," discrimination it imposes on a black or minority wage earner and the advantage, or "benefit," it bestows on a white or majority wage earner can be estimated. Copyright 1988 by MIT Press.

/pdf/on-the-decomposition-of-wage-differentials-1q1jvy0s1o.pdf

On the Decomposition of Wage Differentials

This paper examines the extent of the high school dropout problem in 1979 and investigates both the stated reasons students leave school and some of the underlying factors influencing their decision. Particular attention is focused on differences by sex, race, and family background. Data for this research come from a new, national sample of youth who were 14 to 21 years of age in 1979. A multivariate model is developed to estimate the effects of family background and other factors on the decision to drop out of school. Several results emerge from the study: The reasons students cite for leaving school vary widely, with women more likely to leave because of pregnancy or marriage and men more likely to leave to go to work; family background strongly influences the propensity to drop out of school and accounts for virtually all the racial differences in dropout rates; various other factors, including ability and aspirations, also influence this decision.

Dropping Out of High School: The Influence of Race, Sex, and Family Background

Estimating the effect of unearned income on labor supply, earnings, savings, and consumption

Among Negroes living in an SMSA outside the South in 1960, those born in the South had higher incomes and less unemployment than those born in the North with or without standardizing for differences in age, years of school, and a number of other variables. Recent migrants, defined as those living in an SMSA in 1960 but not in 1955, did have lower incomes than those who were in SMSAs in both years, although the differential is larger for whites than for Negroes. Several possible explanations for these results are discussed. Economists often look at migration as an investment and compare the income of migrants with that of people who remained behind. This study focuses on a different aspect of migration. It compares the migrants with those who were already at the destination point. Specifically, the study examines the migration of Negroes from the South to the northern cities and, The author is Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Notre Dame. * The statistical part of this study was performed at Rutgers University pursuant to a contract with the Office of Economic Opportunity. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and should not be construed as representing the opinions or policy of any agency of the United States government. The research also was supported in part by funds granted to the Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin, by the Office of Economic Opportunity pursuant to the provisions of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. The author is indebted to Kate Tallmadge, Mildred Evans, and Burt Barnow for computer programming, to Ronald Rudolph for research assistance, and to Patricia Koshel and Bette Mahoney of OEO and his colleagues at Rutgers and Wisconsin for advice and encouragement. Particularly helpful comments were received from Irwin Garfinkel, Michael Taussig, the referees, and from Kenneth Brown and other participants at a research seminar at Notre Dame. The Journal of Human Resources * VII * 4 This content downloaded from 207.46.13.158 on Tue, 15 Nov 2016 03:56:52 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 412 1 THE JOURNAL OF HUMAN RESOURCES for all regions, from rural to urban areas. The income and labor-force status of these migrants are compared with the corresponding values for Negroes who were already in the cities. By doing such a study, we can obtain at least a partial answer to the question, "How many of the problems facing northern (or urban) Negroes can be attributed directly to their migration from the South (or from rural areas)?" If we find that the migrants are much worse off than nonmigrants, then more resources probably should be allocated to special organizations in the cities to assist the newcomers. It might also be very important to improve the quality of schooling and counseling in the areas from which the migrants came. The results of this study indicate, however, that the migrants are likely to be better off than the nonmigrants, at least once an initial adjustment period is passed.l If the migrants are better off than the long-term urban residents, then efforts to improve the situation of northern Negroes should probably focus on the general issue of discrimination rather than on special programs to assist migrants. In addition, we should not be too optimistic that the position of northern Negroes will automatically improve as the migration slows down. This last statement must be qualified, however, since a decrease in the size of the migration might still improve the position of northern Negroes if the relative size of the Negro and white communities has an important effect on the opportunities available to Negroes. I. DATA AND THE MEASURES OF MIGRATION STATUS This study is based on data from the 1/1,000 sample of the 1960 Census. With these data we can look at both lifetime and recent migration. Lifetime migrants are Negroes who were born in the South but who are living in Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSAs) outside the South in 1 Some earlier studies that have made somewhat similar comparisons, often as a side issue in connection with some other topic, are Karl E. and Alma F. Taeuber, Negroes in Cities: Residential Segregation and Neighborhood Change (Chicago: Aldine, 1965); Richard F. Wertheimer II, The Monetary Rewards of Migration within the U.S. (Washington: Urban Institute, 1970); John F. Kain and Joseph J. Persky, "The North's Stake in Southern Rural Poverty," in Rural Poverty in the United States (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1968); Donald and Deborah Freedman, "Farm-Reared Elements in the Non-Farm Population," Rural Sociology 21 (March 1965), pp. 50-61: Melvin Lurie and Elton Rayack, "Racial Differences in Migration and Job Search: A Case Study," Southern Economic Journal 33 (July 1966), pp. 81-95; and John B. Lansing and James M. Morgan, "The Effect of Geographic Mobility on Income," Journal of Human Resources 2 (Fall 1967), pp. 449-60. This content downloaded from 207.46.13.158 on Tue, 15 Nov 2016 03:56:52 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

Are Black Migrants from the South to the Northern Cities Worse Off Than Blacks Already There

In this paper an attempt is made to estimate the degree of inequality of educational opportunity at the secondary school level Data from the 1/1,000 sample of the 1960 Census are used to estimate the probabilities of falling behind in school or dropping out for children from different family backgrounds For children whose parents have little education or income, the probabilities are more than 20 times greater than for children from well-to-do families where both parents have graduated from high school The determinants of the dropout and retardation rates are also investigated, with the discussion focusing on the possible effects of new transfer programs, such as the negative income tax While the short-run effects are likely to be quite small, the long-run effects may be important, especially for the Negro retardation rate

The Effect of Family Income on Children's Education: Some Findings on Inequality of Opportunity.

Using both the 1967 Survey of Economic Opportunity and the 1/1,000 sample of the 1960 Census, we find that much more of the racial earnings gap should be attributed to labor-market discrimination than to differences in years of school. Although differences in scholastic attainment have more effect than differences in years of school per se, labor-market discrimination remains important even when productivity differences are measured primarily in terms of predicted test scores rather than years of school.

The Effect of Educational Differences and Labor-Market Discrimination on the Relative Earnings of Black Males

The effects of Supported Work on a sample of 1620 long-term AFDC recipients are analyzed in this paper. We find positive, statistically significant effects on the postprogram earnings of experimentals. Although the experimental effect declines sharply over time at one of the seven sites, at the others the effect increases somewhat faster than the rate of inflation. The postprogram effects are concentrated disproportionately in public-sector employment, but not in CETA/WIN positions. The increased earnings of experimentals leads to significant payment reductions in welfare. In the long run, we estimate that the experimental effect on earnings will be $53 per month for earnings and $22 per month for disposable income.

Stanley H. Masters

Papers

Are Black Migrants from the South to the Northern Cities Worse Off Than Blacks Already There

The Effect of Family Income on Children's Education: Some Findings on Inequality of Opportunity.

The Effect of Educational Differences and Labor-Market Discrimination on the Relative Earnings of Black Males

The Effects of Supported Work on the Earnings and Transfer Payments of Its AFDC Target Group.