The Impact of the Worker: How Social Capital and Human Capital Influence the Job Tenure of Formerly Undocumented Mexican Immigrants

Abstract

Using the 1992 Legalized Population Survey, I focus on employment matching processes of formerly undocumented Mexican immigrant workers in the United States. As in earlier studies, I show that employment characteristics are related to the job tenures of immigrant workers. However, my contribution is that I specifically analyze how formerly undocumented Mexican immigrant workers’ attributes and social networks influence their job tenures. In general, increases in human capital are associated with shorter job tenure, apparently in an effort to improve employment conditions, while the use of social capital is positively related with job tenure. It appears that acquiring employment is a social process, and those using personal networks find longer lasting jobs. Although prior studies have minimized the role of supply‐side characteristics such as employees’ skill level and social networks in influencing job tenure, my research confirms the significance of workers and the resources they bring to the labor market.

The Effect of Ethnic Clustering on Migrant Integration in Germany

“…However, for both employment and wages, the empirical results (mainly for the US) are mixed. On the one hand, enclaves seem to have the power to provide an efficient network, increasing the probability to be employed (Aguilera, 2002(Aguilera, , 2003Lancee, 2010;Sanders et al, 2002;Tu, 2010). Due to enclave labour markets, the employment probability can be increased by a higher rate of self-employment (Borjas, 1986;Le, 2000).…”

Could Neighbourhood Ties Still Be Important for the Migrants in a Metropolitan City?

“…Тем не ме-нее связи с соседями по-прежнему важны 3 , особенно для некоторых людей, по причи-не наличия общих проблем и общего соци-ального статуса жителей района 4 . Районы проживания -это такие территории, в ко-торых люди, не имеющие доступа к более широким сетям, могут общаться (Logan and Spitze, 1994).…”

“…Они показыва-ют, что последствия от использования таких технологий могут быть реальными для разных людей или одного че-ловека в разное время. 3 Физически доступные (т. е. соседские) связи обе-спечивают инструментальную помощь и поддержку, «та-кую как кредитование и предоставление предметов до-машнего обихода, помощь в ремонте жилья и помощь в работе с организациями ... В целом кварталы с высоким социальным капиталом более безопасны, лучше инфор-мированы, имеют более высокий уровень социального доверия и лучше справляются с решением местных про-блем» (Hampton и Wellman, 2003). 4 С другой стороны, Хэмптон и Веллман (Hampton and Wellman, 2003) также обращают внимание на со-кращение доступа к коммуникациям жителей одного района, хотя они физически близки, из-за других видов деятельности, отсутствия в районе проживания институ-тов и нехватки времени по причине длинного рабочего дня.…”

The Impact of Human and Social Capital on the Employment of Haitian Immigrant Women in the U.S. Labor Force: A Comparative Analysis

“…Not only do they have more difficulties finding jobs but they also earn significantly less than their native counterparts (Alba, & Nee, 1999;Borjas, 1994). Linguistic isolation, due to lack of English fluency, minimizes their chances to have more contacts with natives as they remain concentrated in ethnic enclaves and thus receive less information on job opportunities (Aguilera, 2003;Sanders et al, 2002).…”

“…Proponents of the segmented assimilation theory have relied on these factors to posit that immigrants ‗economic mobility is hindered by linguistic barriers that challenge their educational credentials obtained in the home country as transferable assets in the host country (Aguilera, 2003). Although the segmented assimilation theory provides important insights on the economic experience on immigrants, it nevertheless remains ambiguous and open to interpretation (Xie, & Greenman, 2005).…”