Anywhere they go, we go: Immigration inflow's impact on co‐ethnic natives in the U.S.

Abstract

Using data from the 1970, 1980, 1990, and 2000 Censuses and the American Community Survey five‐year sample for 2006–2010, we examine the impacts of immigration inflows on the migration patterns of co‐ethnic natives in the United States. We explore whether the outcomes are driven by changes in labor market returns in the receiving cities or sociocultural benefits of being surrounded by co‐ethnics. We find that a higher ethnicity‐specific immigrant population share within a city increases the population share of both co‐ethnic natives who remain in the receiving cities and co‐ethnic natives who migrate into these cities, relative to natives of other ancestries. All baseline results survive robustness and falsification tests, and instrumental variable estimations. Through the heterogeneous effects, we find that the sociocultural benefits, such as language and ethnic goods that immigrants bring to receiving cities, are the potential channels that attract co‐ethnic natives to migrate towards those enclaves.

Immigrant Ethnic Enclaves: Causes and Consequences

“…However, districts with a high concentration of immigrants experienced slower housing price growth compared to districts without such concentration, indicating native flight from immigrant-dense areas. Similar results of lower housing values associated with immigration inflows were also found in the United States [20]. This reduction in real estate values within ethnic enclaves could exacerbate segregation, diminishing the attractiveness of these neighborhoods due to lower investment prospects.…”

“…Due to these distinctive features of ethnic businesses, ethnic enclaves may emerge from ethnic neighborhoods by fostering a welcoming environment where new immigrants can lead their lives entirely within the community. This is possible not only because they can tap into local labor market opportunities [16] but also because they can enjoy non-monetary benefits such as ethnic cuisine, linguistic convenience, easy access to religious institutions, and entertainment [20]. Once immigrants can live and thrive within the confines of a community without the necessity for cultural assimilation into the native communities of the host country, the ethnic enclaves will become stable and self-reinforcing.…”

Ethnic Segregation and Immigrants’ Labor Market Outcomes: The Role of Education

“…It is however a puzzle as to whether this residential segregation could positively or negatively affect immigrants' labor market outcomes. While some studies find that ethnic segregation is beneficial for immigrants (Cutler et al, 2008;Damm, 2009;Edin et al, 2003;Munshi, 2003), others show that ethnic segregation either leads to deteriorated labor market outcomes (Beaman, 2012;Borjas, 2000) or has no impact at all (Grönqvist, 2006, Song andXu, 2020). What is more important is that ethnic segregation could impact immigrant members differently depending on their group characteristics.…”