Economic Assimilation of Black Immigrants: Examining Cohort Effects in Entry Performance Levels and Assimilation Rates

Abstract

This paper examines the labor market performance of black immigrants from 1970 to 2010 with specific attention to how quickly black immigrants catch up to the performance levels of native blacks. Performance is measured both in terms of wage level and probability of employment. Contrary to recent findings regarding all immigrants collectively, black immigrant cohorts do not exhibit a decline in quality characterized by both decreasing entry performance levels and assimilation rates. Rather, these cohorts consistently adjust for lower entry performance with higher rates of assimilation. Further, black immigrants do not appear to catch up to native wage levels as quickly as previously estimated. After all controls are introduced, no West Indian-born arrival cohorts and only one African-born arrival cohort entering the U.S. between 1965 and 1999 is projected to catch up to native black wage levels. Previous authors have overestimated how quickly black immigrants catch up to natives by assuming, incorrectly, that there is no significant difference between the two groups in the effect of aging on wage.