Waves of immigrants are often dominated by a single ethnic group, creating difficulty in separating the effects of ethnic origin and immigrant status on earnings. The present article examines the separate effects of ethnicity and immigration on earnings by studying a sample of Israeli workers. The results indicate that immigrant status constitutes a major handicap in the Israeli labor market. Ethnicity, on the other hand, plays a minor role in the earnings determination process. The consequences of these results for labor market policies are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AmirS.1986“Trends in Earnings Gaps among Jewish Men during the 1970's—By Country of Origin.” Discussion Paper 86.07, Jerusalem: Bank of Israel. Hebrew.
2.
BorjasG. J.1990Friends or Strangers: The Impact of Immigrants on the U.S. Economy.New York: Basic Books.
3.
BoydM., FeathermanD. L. and MatrasJ.1980“Status Attainment of Immigrant and Immigrant Origin Categories in the United States, Canada, and Israel,”Comparative Social Research, 3:199–228.
4.
CainG. G.1986“The Economic Analysis of Labor Market Discrimination: A Survey.”Handbook of Labor Economics (Vol. 1). Edited by AshenfelterO. and LayardR.Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers. Pp. 693–786.
5.
CarlinerG.1980“Wages, Earnings and Hours of First, Second and Third Generation American Males,”Economic Inquiry, 18(1):87–102.
6.
CarlsonL. A. and SwartzC.1988“The Earnings of Women and Ethnic Minorities, 1959–1979,”Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 41(4):530–546.
7.
ChiswickB. R.1983“An Analysis of the Earnings and Employment of Asian-American Men”Journal of Labor Economics, 1(2):197–214.
8.
ChiswickB. R.1977“Sons of Immigrants: Are They at an Earnings Disadvantage?”American Economic Review, 67(1):376–380.
9.
GwartneyJ. E. and LongJ. L.1978“The Earnings of Blacks and Other Minorities,”Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 31(3):336–346.
10.
HolzerH. J.1990“The Determinants of Employee Productivity and Earnings,”Industrial Relations, 29(3):403–422.
11.
KossoudjiS. A.1989“Immigrant Worker Assimilation: Is It a Labor Market Phenomenon?”Journal of Human Resources, 24(3):494–527.
12.
KrausV. and HodgeR. W.1990Promises in the Promised Land: Mobility and Inequality in Israel.New York: Greenwood Press.
13.
Lewin-EpsteinN. and StierH.1987“Labor Market Structure, Gender, and Socio-economic Inequality in Israel,”Israel Social Science Research, 5 (1–2): 107–120.
14.
LiebersonS.1980A Piece of the Pie.London: University of California Press.
15.
MariniM. M1989“Sex Differences in Earnings in the United States,”Annual Review of Sociology, 15:343–380.
SemyonovM.1981“Effects of Community on Status Attainment,”Sociological Quarterly, 22(3):359–372.
20.
SemyonovM. and KrausV.1983“Gender, Ethnicity and Income Inequality: The Israeli Experience,”International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 24 (3–4): 258–272.
21.
SmoohaS. and KrausV.1985“Ethnicity as a Factor in Status Attainment in Israel,”Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 4:151–175.
