The present study contributes to the literature on international migration by examining social, demographic and contextual factors that influence modes of labor market incorporation and occupational cost among new immigrants during their first years after migration. The data for the analysis were obtained from the 1983 Census or Population conducted by Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics. The analysis focuses on men who immigrated to Israel between 1979 to 1983. Although most immigrants are able to join the economically active labor force shortly after arrival, they do so by adopting different strategies and at a substantial occupational cost. The data reveal that the likelihood of finding employment, the mode of labor market incorporation, and the size of the occupational cost are significantly affected by geocultural origin, occupation in the country of origin, and individual-level demographic and human capital resources. The meaning of the differentiated effects are discussed in detail. The findings point toward two central aspects that should be examined in the study of labor market incorporation of new immigrants: employment status and occupational cost.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AdarG.1981Occupational Prestige in the Kibbutz.Haifa: University of Haifa, The Institute for Study and Research of The Kibbutz.
2.
BaileyT.1987Immigrant and Native Workers: Contrasts and Competition.Boulder, CO: Westview.
3.
BeanF., and TiendaM.1987The Hispanic Population in the United States.New York: Russel Sage.
4.
BorjasG.1988International Differences in the Labor Market Performance of Immigrants.Michigan: W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
5.
BorjasG.1983“The Labor Supply of Male Hispanic Immigrants in the U.S.,”International Migration Review, 17: 653–71.
6.
BorjasG.1982“The Earnings of Male Hispanic Immigrants in the United States,”Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 35: 343–53.
7.
BorjasG., and TiendaM.1987“Introduction.” In Hispanics in the U.S. Economy. Ed. BorjasG., and TiendaM.Orlando, FL: Academic Press. Pp. 1–24.
8.
BoydM., FeathermanD., and MatrasJ.1980“Status Attainment of Immigrant-Origin Categories in the United States, Canada and Israel,”Comparative Social Research, 3: 199–228.
9.
ChiswickB.1982The Employment of Immigrants in the United States.Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute.
10.
ChiswickB.1979“The Economic Progress of Immigrants: Some Apparently Universal Patterns.” In Contemporary Economic Problems. Ed. FellnerW.Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute. Pp. 359–399.
11.
ChiswickB.1978a “The Effect of Americanization on the Earnings of Foreign Born Men,”Journal of Political Economy, 897–922.
12.
ChiswickB.1978b “A Longitudinal Analysis of the Occupational Mobility of Immigrants.” In Proceedings of the 30th Annual Winter Meetings, Industrial Relations Research Association. Ed. DennisB.Madison: I.R.R.A. Pp. 20–27.
13.
ChiswickB., and MillerP.1988“Earnings in Canada: The Roles of Immigrant Generation, French Ethnicity and Language,”Research in Population Economics, 6: 183–224.
14.
ElderG.Jr.1990“Perspectives in the Life Course.” In Life Course and Dynamics. Ed. ElderG.Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Pp. 23–49.
15.
EvansM. D.1989“Immigrant Entrepreneurship: Effect of Ethnic Market Size and Isolated Market Pool,”American Sociological Review, 54: 950–952.
16.
EvansM. D.1984“Immigrant Women in Australia: Resources, Family and Work,”International Migration Review, 18: 908–963. Winter.
17.
GlasserW., and HabersC.1974“The Migration and Return of Professionals,”International Migration Review, 8: 692–713.
18.
HaberfieldY.1993“Immigrants and Ethnic Origin: The Effect of Demographic Attributes on Earnings of Israeli Men and Women,”International Migration Review, 27: 286–305.
19.
HeckmanJ.1979“Sample Selection as a Specification Error,”Econometrica, 45: 153–161.
20.
LiebersonS.1980A Piece of the Pie: Blacks and White Immigrants since 1880.Berkeley: University of California Press.
21.
LightI.1979“Disadvantaged Minorities in Self-Employment,”International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 20: 31–45.
22.
LightI., and BonacichE.1988Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Koreans in Los Angeles 1965–1982.Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
23.
ParkR.1952Human Communities: The City and Human Ecology.New York: The Free Press.
24.
PioreM.1979Birds of Passage: Migrant Labor and Industrial Societies.New York: Cambridge University Press.
25.
PortesA., and StepickR.1985“Unwelcome Immigrants: The Labor Market Experiences of 1980 Mariel and Haitian Refugees in South Florida,”American Sociological Review, 50: 493–514.
26.
PortesA., and RumbautR.1990Immigrant America. A Portrait.Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
27.
RubelY.1988Padres que Envian a Sus Hijos a las Escuelas Judias. Petfil Socio-Demografico.Buenos Aires: AMIA.
28.
SemyonovM., and TyreeA.1981“Community Segregation and the Costs of Ethnic Subordination,”Social Forces, 59: 649–666.
29.
SemyonovM., and LerenthalT.1991“Country of Origin, Gender and the Attainment of Socioeconomic Status: A Study of Stratification in the Jewish Population of Israel,”Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 10: 327–345.
30.
SpilermanS., and HabibJ.1976“Development Towns in Israel: The Role of Community in Creating Ethnic Disparities in Labor Force Characteristics,”American Journal of Sociology, 81: 781–812.
31.
SpiroM.1958Children of the Kibbutz.Boston: Harvard University Press.
32.
StevensR., GoodmanL., and MickS.1978The Alien Doctors, Foreign Medical Graduates in American Hospitals.New York: Wiley.
33.
StierH., and TiendaM.1992“Family, Work and Women: The Labor Supply of Hispanic Immigrant Wives,”International Migration Review, 25(4): 1291–1313.
34.
TreimanD. J.1977Occupational Prestige in Comparative Perspective.New York: Academic Press.
35.
TyreeA.1981“Occupational Socio-Economic Status, Ethnicity and Sex in Israel: Considerations in Scale Construction,”Megamot, 27: 7–21. Hebrew.
36.
TyreeA., SemyonovM., and KrausV.1987“Which Worm Does the Early Bird Get?” In Research in Social Stratification and Mobility Ed. KallebergA. L.Greenwich, CT: JAI Press. Pp. 239–256.
37.
WaldingerR.1986Through the Eye of the Needle: Immigrant Enterprise in New York's Garment Trades.New York: New York University Press.
38.
WilsonK., and PortesA.1980“Immigrant Enclaves: An Analysis of the Labor Market Experiences of Cubans in Miami,”American Journal of Sociology, 86: 295–319.
39.
ZinmanB.1988Soviet Immigrants in Israel Problems and Prospects.Arlington, VA: Foreign Service Institute.
