The Economic Attainment of Mexican Refugees during the Age of Mass Migration

Research on immigrant economic integration generally focuses on the influence of human capital on later occupational success. This research, however, often ignores other individual-level and contextual-level influences on later attainment and when in settlement they are likely to matter. We therefore create a unique panel dataset that follows a Mexican refugee population from arrival and through settlement in the early twentieth century. This novel data source allows us to examine both individual and contextual characteristics on occupational attainment at different points in time. Our analyses show that individual characteristics beyond human capital measures are likely to matter at first arrival, but their effects attenuate over time. This is especially true for perceived skin complexion, persons travelled with, and age which hold large effects on occupational outcomes at first arrival, but smaller effects after longer settlement. Furthermore, we are able to explore the role context of settlement plays on economic attainment. Consistent with previous research, we find that more favorable contexts are associated with better outcomes than less favorable contexts. This research has implications for the understanding of the adaptation and integration of refugee and immigrant populations by shedding light on what and when different variables influence later attainment.

A Historical Appraisal of Development in the Nigerian Society from Pre-Colonial to Post-Colonial Periods

Although development studies of the Nigerian society has been done from various time frames and perspectives in order to ascertain the level of economic attainment, scant scholarly attention has been given to a wholesome historical appraisal of the Nigerian state from pre-colonial to post-colonial periods. The reason for this tendency is not unrelated to the enormity of issues and happenstances which characterized such a lengthy scope of study. However, given the necessity of an in-depth audit, it has become overly important to attempt/endeavor into a research that can offer a precise, meaningful and valuable guide for developmental indices in a country with such vast economic resources and diverse ethnic population. In fulfilment of this objective, the study adopted a Mixed Method Research (MMR) design involving elements of qualitative and quantitative research approaches. Although the work is qualitative dominant in historical research methodology, elements of quantitative drives was derived from an earlier research-wellbeing for Nigeria (Fig. 1) which corroborated findings from the oral interviews and the secondary sources from journals, library search, books and other literature. Additionally, recourse was made to Growth, Trade and Dependency Development theoretical framework of analysis which guided the validation of the findings. Findings of the work revealed that the Nigerian state has been enveloped in developmental crises for several decades, consequent upon ethnic and cultural pluralism, improper economic planning and productivity and corruption. The work concluded that, for Nigeria to attain meaningful socio-economic development, more resolute measures of the management of its resources and diversity should be put in place through good governance. The work recommended that the federal government should design and put in place people-oriented reform programs to promote social enhancement, economic empowerment at both rural and urban areas of the country and eradication of poverty.

Revealing the Concealed Effect of Top Earnings on the Gender Gap in the Economic Value of Higher Education in the United States, 1980–2017

The expansion of women's educational attainment may seem to be a promising path toward achieving economic equality between men and women, given the consistent rise in the economic value of higher education. Using yearly data from 1980 to 2017, we provide an updated and comprehensive examination of the gender gap in education premiums, showing that it is not as promising as it could and should be. Women receive lower rewards to their higher education across the entire wage distribution, and this gender gap increases at the very top education premiums—the top quarter and, even more so, the top decile. Moreover, insufficient theoretical and methodological attention to this top premium effect has left gender inequality concealed in the extensive empirical studies on the topic. Specifically, when we artificially censor the top at the 80th wage percentile, the gender gaps in education premium reverse. Lastly, the growth in earnings inequality in the United States, which is greatly affected by the expansion of top earnings, is associated with the growing gender gap in education premiums over time. We discuss the meaning and implications of this structural disadvantage at a time when women's educational advantage keeps growing and higher education remains the most important factor for economic attainment.

The Contradictions of Liminal Legality: Economic Attainment and Civic Engagement of Central American Immigrants on Temporary Protected Status

This study examines how Temporary Protected Status (TPS) may shape immigrants’ integration trajectories. Building on core themes identified in the immigrant incorporation scholarship, it investigates whether associations of educational attainment with labor market outcomes and with civic participation, which are well established in the general population, hold for immigrants who live in the “liminal legality” of TPS. Conducted in 2016 in five U.S. metropolitan areas, the study is based on a unique survey of Salvadoran and Honduran TPS holders, the majority of immigrants on this status. The analyses find that TPS holders with higher levels of educational attainment do not derive commensurate significant occupational or earnings premiums from their education. In contrast, the analysis of the relationship between educational attainment and civic engagement detects a positive association: more educated TPS holders are more likely to be members of community organizations and to participate in voluntary community service, compared to their less educated counterparts. These findings illustrate the contradictions inherent to TPS as it may hinder certain aspects of immigrant integration but not others. This examination contributes to our understanding of the implications of immigrants’ legal statuses and of immigration law and policy for key aspects of immigrant integration trajectories.

Academic Achievement and Economic Attainment: Reexamining Associations Between Test Scores and Long-Run Earnings

The current article reexamines the correlation between achievement test scores and earnings by providing new evidence on the association between academic skills and measures of adult earnings assessed when participants were in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. Results suggest that math and reading scores are strong predictors of economic attainment throughout participants’ careers, but these associations may also be sensitive to controls for other characteristics—including measures of the early family environment, general cognitive functioning, and socioemotional skills. Although these associations demonstrate the likely importance of achievement skills in determining labor market productivity, the variability in the achievement-to-earnings correlation suggests that researchers should apply caution when using the correlation to project the long-run effects of educational interventions.

Class Background, Reception Context, and Intergenerational Mobility: A Record Linkage and Surname Analysis of the Children of Irish Immigrants

Proponents of restrictive immigration policies often claim that families arriving with fewer skills and resources will struggle economically. This claim is challenging to test as lower-skilled migrants also tend to face greater discrimination, exclusion, and obstacles in the United States. I use unique multigenerational data on Irish Americans in the early-twentieth century, before and after migration, to directly study how the economic origins of Irish families and the reception context they faced in the United States affected economic attainment in the second generation. This analysis finds weak associations between economic background in Ireland and second-generation earnings in the United States. The schooling context and ethnic communities of settlement locations in the United States, in contrast, have strong effects on the second generation. These findings indicate that the experiences of immigrant families in the United States may be more important for second-generation attainment than the skills and resources brought from the origin country in the immigrant generation.

Parental Income and Children’s Life Course: Lessons from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics

This article reviews how the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) has contributed to our understanding of the links between childhood economic conditions—in particular, the household incomes with very young children—and the economic attainment and health of those children when they reach adulthood. From its beginning, the PSID has provided data useful for addressing intergenerational questions. In the mid-1990s, PSID data supported a series of studies that link early childhood income to early adult attainments, particularly to completed schooling. At the same time, discoveries in neurobiology and epidemiology were beginning to provide details on the processes producing the observed correlations. These discoveries led to a more recent set of PSID-based studies that focus not only on labor market and behavioral outcomes, but also on links between income in the earliest stages of life (including the prenatal period) and adult health. Links between economic disadvantage in childhood and adult health, and the developmental neuroscience underlying those links, are promising areas for future research.

Permanency and the Educational and Economic Attainment of Former Foster Children in Early Adulthood

Foster children are at disproportionate risk of adverse outcomes throughout the life course. Public policy prioritizes permanency (exiting foster care through reunification with birth parents, adoption, or legal guardianship) to promote foster youths’ healthy development and well-being, but little empirical evidence indicates that permanency, including its most preferred form—reunification—promotes positive outcomes. Using multi-system, statewide longitudinal administrative data, we employed logistic and mixed-effects regression to examine educational attainment and earnings among former foster youth in early adulthood. We found that youth who aged out of care had significantly higher odds of graduating high school and enrolling in college than did reunified youth and youth who exited to guardianship, and they had similar odds as adopted youth. Earnings were similar across groups. Among aged-out (but not reunified) youth, odds of high school graduation and average earnings were higher for youth who spent more time in foster care prior to age 18. Overall, results suggest that permanency alone is insufficient to promote foster youths’ educational and economic attainment.