Essays on the Heterogeneity of Immigrant Groups in the United States: Testable Implications Using Human
Capital Theory
by
Kalena Eliana Cortes
B.A. (University of California, San Diego) 1995
A dissertation submined in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in Economics
in the
GRADUATE DIVISION of the
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
Committee in charge:
Professor David Card, Chair Professor Ronald D. Lee Professor Steven P. Raphael
Fall 2002
Contents
List of Figures v List of Tables vi Acknowledgements vii 1 Introduction 1 2 Are Refugees Different from Economic Immigrants? Some Empirical 4
Evidence on the Heterogeneity of Immigrant Groups in the United States 2.1 Introduction 4 2.2 Literature Review 6 2.3 Conceptual Framework 9 2.3.1 A Model of Human Capital Investment 9 2.4 Empirical Methodology and Data Description 11 2.5 Characteristics of Refugees and Economic Immigrants 14 2.6 Empirical Results 17 2.6.1 Model Specification and Regression Analysis 17 2.6.2 Robustness Tests: Illusion or Reality 21 2.6.3 The Effects of Improving English Fluency 25 2.7 Conclusion 26 3 The Effects of Age at Arrival and Enclave Schools on the Academic 44
Performance of Immigrant Children
3.1 Introduction 44 3.2 Literature Review 47 3.3 Data Sources, Sample Selection, and Summary Statistics 50 3.3.1 Data Sources 50 3.3.2 Sample Selection and Construction 51 3.3.3 Summary Statistics 52 3.4 Empirical Specification 57 3.5 Empirical Results 58 3.5.1 ASAT-READING Percentile Score Results 59 3.5.2 ASAT-MATH Percentiles Score Results 62 3.5.3 Robustness Test: Propensity Score Matching 63 3.6 Conclusions 64 4 Do Immigrants Benefit from an Increase in the Minimum Wage Rate?
An Analysis by Immigrant Industry Concentration 77 4.1 Introduction 77
4.2 Literature Review 78 4.3 Data Source, Sample Selection, and Characteristics of Immigrants and
Native Workers 79 4.3.1 Data Source and Sample Selection 79 4.3.2 Immigrant and Native Worker Characteristics by Immigrant Industry
Concentration 81 4.4 Empirical Estimation and Results 84 4.4.1 Empirical Estimation ;... .;: 84 4.4.2 Results 85 4.5 Accessing Minimum Wage Compliance: Two Approaches 86 4.6 Conclusions 91
Bibliography 101 Appendices 108 Appendix A 108 Appendix B I l l Appendix C 112
