Education, credentials, and immigrant earnings

Abstract

Using 1981Using to 2001 Census data, we study how the human capital of immigrants is rewarded in Canada. We distinguish between years of schooling and degrees obtained in order to estimate 'sheepskin' effects -the gain in earnings associated with receipt of a degree, controlling for years of schooling. We find that immigrant years of schooling and immigrant work experience accumulated before arrival is valued much less than Canadian experience of comparable natives. However, for immigrants the increase in earnings associated with completing educational programs is generally higher than that of comparable natives. We provide both signalling and human capital interpretations of this finding. JEL codes: J15, I2Education, reconnaissance des acquis et revenus des immigrants.À l'aide des données de recensement entre 1981 et 2001, on examine la façon dont le capital humain des immigrants est reconnu et rémunéré au Canada. On fait la distinction entre les années de scolarité et les grades obtenus afin de calibrer les effets du diplôme -les gains associésà l'obtention du grade après avoir pris en compte les années de scolarité. On découvre que les années de scolarité et d'expérience accumulées par les immigrants avant leur arrivée reçoivent une pondération moins grande que l'expérience comparable des Canadiens. Cependant, pour les immigrants, le fait de compléter leur programme a un effet sur l'accroissement des revenus qui est plus important que pour les Canadiens de souche. On suggère des interprétations de ces résultatsà partir de théorisations fondées sur le capital humain et la théorie des signaux.

Age at Immigration and the Education Outcomes of Children

“…It should be distinguished from a number of concepts used in the second language acquisition 1 Aydemir, Chen, and Corak (2009a,b) use the 2001 version of these data to study second generation Canadians, while Riddell (2008), andSchaasfma andSweetman (2001) use similar public use versions on earlier years to offer evidence of earnings and age at arrival. Ferrer, Green, and Riddell (2006) also examine issues associated with age at arrival from other surveys.…”

Characteristics of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Their Involvement in International New Ventures

“…Previous research contrasting differences between INV and DNV in a U.S. survey of 214 new ventures found the entrepreneurial teams of INV exhibited higher levels of previous international experience (McDougall, Oviatt, and Shrader 2003). A recent Canadian study indicated that immigrant work experience in their countries of origin is valued much less than the experience of comparable natives (Ferrer and Riddell 2008). This lower return on educational investment in traditional employment might push immigrants to consider starting their own international venture.…”

“…Immigrants are on average more highly educated than natives (Baker and Benjamin 1994) with more years of schooling (Ferrer and Riddell 2008), probably due to the country's immigration selection criteria. American research has also concluded that immigrants and immigrant children are likely to have higher educational aspirations than natives (Vernez and Abrahamse 1996).…”

The Importance of Origin and Destination Country Skills for Labour Market Attachment of Immigrants from Pakistan, Iran and Turkey

“…Limited transferability could arise when foreign skills are of a lower quality or with different relevance in the labour markets in the destination country. This may be obvious in the case of language skills, but appears to be the case as well for skills acquired on-the-job or through formal education (e.g., Chiswick 1978;Chiswick and Miller 2009;Duleep and Regets 1999;Friedberg 2000;Ferrer and Riddell 2008;Ferrer, Green and Riddel 2006;Hartog 2000).…”