A Warm Embrace or the Cold Shoulder: Wage and Employment Outcomes in Ethnic Enclaves

Abstract

This paper examines how immigrant enclaves influence labor market outcomes. We examine the effect of variation in ethnic concentration across counties and county subdivisions on both immigrant earnings and employment using the non‐public use, 1‐in‐6 sample of the 2000 U.S. Census. We find that there is heterogeneity in enclave impacts by ethnic group and skill composition of the enclave. While some groups tend to suffer from lower wages and employment propensities when residing in areas with larger ethnic concentrations, others have higher wages and improved employment opportunities in enclaves. (JEL J61, J15, R23)

The Effect of Ethnic Clustering on Migrant Integration in Germany

“…Regarding wages, empirical results are equally mixed. While a few studies find positive wage effects (Cutler et al, 2008;Damm, 2009;Edin et al, 2003), other find negative ones (Borjas, 2000;Warman, 2007) or an insignificant relationship (Chowdhury and Pedace, 2007;Pedace and Rohn, 2008;Xie and Gough, 2011). Goel and Lang (2009) show that social networks can help immigrants find jobs faster but also at a lower wage.…”

Effects of US citizenship on wages of Asian immigrant women

“…Researchers have pointed out that depending on the race/ethnicity of the particular group, the time of arrival in the country, and gender, ethnic enclaves may be just another secondary labor market, providing low wages, limited benefits, and few opportunities for advancement (Catanzarite & Aguilera, ; Gilbertson, ; Portes & Shafer, ; Xie & Gough, ). For instance, there is empirical evidence showing that ethnic enclaves negatively influence wages for workers of both sexes from Mexico, Central America, and Europe, but have no impact on male workers from East Asia (Pedace & Rohn, ).…”

Household extension and employment among Asian immigrant women in the US

“…Immigrant women's employment may be affected by local labor market conditions, including the level of ethnic concentration (Banerjee 2013;Chin 2013;Greenlees and Saenz 1999;Pedace and Kumar 2014;Sanders and Nee 1996), women's overall employment rates (Cotter, Hermsen, and Vanneman 2001), and local unemployment rates (Kahn and Whittington 1996). The evidence is mixed regarding ethnic variation.…”