Chinese Immigrant Wealth: Heterogeneity in Adaptation

Abstract

Chinese immigrants are a diverse and growing group whose members provide a unique opportunity to examine within-immigrant group differences in adaptation. In this paper, we move beyond thinking of national-origin groups as homogenous and study variation among Chinese immigrants in wealth ownership, a critical indicator of adaptation that attracts relatively little attention in the immigration literature. We develop an analytical approach that considers national origin, tenure in the U.S., and age to examine heterogeneity in economic adaptation among the immigrant generation. Our results show that variations among Chinese immigrants explain within-group differences in net worth, asset ownership, and debt. These differences also account for important variation between Chinese immigrants, natives, and other immigrant groups and provide important, new insight into the processes that lead to immigrant adaptation and long-term class stability.

Immigrants and wealth attainment: migration, inequality, and integration

“…Second, as we argue elsewhere (Keister, Agius Vallejo, and Aronson 2016), scholars should consider the context of exit, period-specific contexts of reception, tenure in the U.S., and immigrant human/financial capital in shaping differences in immigrant wealth by national origin and its effect on the integration of the second and later generations. For example, in a recent paper investigating immigrant wealth attainment (Keister, Agius Vallejo, and Aronson 2016), we employ an analytical approach that considers background variables and historical eventsmeasured via national origin, tenure in the U.S., and ageto analyze heterogeneity in wealth attainment among the immigrant generation. We find that wealth levels vary by tenure in the U.S.-with the highest levels reported by immigrants who have lived in the U.S. twenty-five years or longer-and that immigrants from Hong Kong/Taiwan have high levels of net worth that exceeds all other groups, including native-born whites.…”

“…However, even a small amount of savings, home equity, or assets from a business can have enormous advantages for both immigrants and their descendants (Valdez 2011;Agius Vallejo 2012;Agius Vallejo and Canizales 2016). Assets are necessary for migration (Hondagneu-Sotelo 1994;Massey, Durand, and Malone 2002), they shape starting points upon arrival, they can improve educational attainment for current and future generations (Keister, Agius Vallejo, and Aronson 2016), facilitate residential integration (Alba and Logan 1992), enable entrepreneurship (Valdez 2011;Agius Vallejo and Canizales 2016;Cederberg and Villares-Varela 2019), facilitate ethnic philanthropy (Agius Vallejo 2015), and make retirement secure (Keister, Agius Vallejo, and Borelli 2015). Assets also provide an essential financial buffer against income interruptions, medical emergencies, and other financial shocks that may occur at the household or macroeconomic level, such as the detention of an undocumented family member or an economic recession, respectively.…”

“…A multitude of interconnecting dynamics contribute to an immigrant's ability to save, access conventional forms of credit, and accumulate assets. These factors include legal status, national origin, tenure in the country of settlement, limited access to financial institutions, and discrimination (Campbell and Kaufman 2006;Akresh 2011;Keister, Agius Vallejo, and Aronson 2016;Painter, Holmes, and Bateman 2016). Legal status is a significant structural mechanism in the U.S. case that has consequences for within-group stratification in wealth ownership.…”

“…Wealth levels also vary significantly by national origin. Chinese and South Asian immigrants in the U.S. have higher levels of wealth compared to all other immigrant groups, especially Mexicans, though wealth grows for all groups as tenure in the U.S. increases (Keister, Agius Vallejo, and Aronson 2016). A historical legacy of structural racism and discrimination in U.S. financial institutions and credit markets also hinders asset accumulation among immigrants and people of colour and contributes to racialized predadory lending (Massey et al 2016) and higher rates of denials for mortgage and commercial loans, as immigrants and people of colour pay higher interest rates and are more often denied loans than whites, even after controlling for creditworthiness (Cavalluzzo and Wolken 2005;Bates and Robb 2013).…”

“…To start, research could usefully explore how wealth varies by national origin, immigrant generation, gender, and varying legal statuses. There is research on larger panethnic groups, but we are just beginning to understand how wealth varies by national origin and within groups, especially among national-origin groups with multiple migration waves (Keister, Agius Vallejo, and Borelli 2015;McConnell 2015;Canizales 2016, 2019;Keister, Agius Vallejo, and Aronson 2016). Research should investigate how wealth changes over time and across generations for the same households and how these trajectories vary by race/ethnicity, class, and national origin.…”