Self-selection and earnings assimilation: Immigrants from the former Soviet Union in Israel and the United States

Abstract

Drawing on U.S. decennial census data and on Israeli census and longitudinal data, we compare the educational levels and earnings assimilation of Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union (FSU) in the United States and Israel during 1968-2000. Because the doors to both countries were practically open to FSU immigrants between 1968 and 1989, when FSU immigrants were entitled to refugee visas in the United States, the comparison can be viewed as a natural experiment in immigrants' destination choices. The results suggest that FSU immigrants to the United States are of significantly higher educational level and experience significantly faster rates of earnings assimilation in their new destination than their counterparts who immigrated to Israel. We present evidence that patterns of self-selection in immigration to Israel and the United States--on both measured and unmeasured productivity-related traits--is the main reason for these results. When the immigration regulations in the United States changed in 1989, and FSU Jewish immigrants to the United States had to rely on family reunification for obtaining immigrant visas, the adverse effects of the policy change on the type of FSU immigrants coming to the United States were minor and short-lived As early as 1992, the gaps in the educational levels between FSU immigrants coming to Israel and to the United States returned to their pre-1989 levels, and the differences in earnings assimilation of post-1989 immigrants in the United States and Israel are similar to the differences detected in the 1980s.

National culture, networks and ethnic entrepreneurship: A comparison of the Indian and Chinese immigrants in the US

“…Immigrants in the US do not represent a random sample of the population from the countries of origin (Borjas, 1987). Some immigrant groups are positively self-selected on their observed characteristics, as evidenced by the high educational levels of US immigrants from India and countries in Africa (Cohen & Haberfeld, 2007;Portes & Rumbaut, 1996), while some immigrant groups are negatively self selected on observed characteristics, such as the lower educational attainment of US immigrants from Mexico. Since previous studies have shown different types of self-selection in immigrants, discussions in this paper are applicable to overseas communities of the Indians and Chinese, rather than the Indians and Chinese in general.…”

Migration Patterns to and from Israel

“…Immigrants arriving from the Soviet Union and other countries in Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia were of higher educational levels than their predecessors coming from the same countries in the 1950s and 1960s. True, during the 1970s and early 1980s, Jewish emigrants from the FSU that reached the U.S. were of higher educational levels than those coming to Israel (DellaPergola 1986;Cohen and Haberfeld 2007). But, apparently, Israel of the post-1967 period became a more attractive destination for educated immigrants.…”

“…Interestingly, Jewish immigrants from the FSU who arrived during the 1990s to Canada (Lewin-Epstein et al 2003) or the U.S. (DellaPergola 1998;Cohen and Haberfeld 2007) were of higher educational levels than their counterparts who came to Israel; however, those arriving to Germany in the 1990s were of similar educational level to those coming to Israel Kogan 2005, 2007). In short, in the competition for educated immigrants from the FSU, Israel performed rather well versus Germany, but lost to the U.S. and Canada.…”

A “healthy immigrant effect” or a “sick immigrant effect”? Selection and policies matter

“…Focusing on the self-selection of immigrants in terms of education, which also leads to earnings' assimilation as well as it is correlated with health, Cohen and Haberfeld (2007) compared immigrants from the former Soviet Union (FSU) to Israel and to the United States, during the time period of . During this period of the Cold War, the United States opened its doors to FSU immigrants, granting them refugee visas.…”