Transferability of Human Capital and Immigrant Assimilation - An Analysis for Germany

35 Pages Posted: 11 Feb 2010

See all articles by Leilanie Basilio

Leilanie Basilio

Ruhr University of Bochum

Thomas K. Bauer

Rhine-Westphalia Institute for Economic Research (RWI-Essen); University of Bochum - Faculty of Economics; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

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Date Written: January 1, 2010

Abstract

This paper investigates the transferability of human capital across countries and the contribution of imperfect human capital portability to the explanation of the immigrant-native wage gap. Using data for West Germany, our results reveal that, overall, education and labor market experience accumulated in the home countries of the immigrants receive signicantly lower returns than human capital obtained in Germany. We further find evidence for heterogeneity in the returns to human capital of immigrants across origin countries. Finally, imperfect human capital transferability appears to be a major factor in explaining the wage differential between natives and immigrants.

Keywords: Human capital, rate of return, immigration, assimilation

JEL Classification: J61, J31, J24

Suggested Citation

Basilio, Leilanie and Bauer, Thomas K., Transferability of Human Capital and Immigrant Assimilation - An Analysis for Germany (January 1, 2010). Ruhr Economic Paper No. 164, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1550644 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1550644

Leilanie Basilio (Contact Author)

Ruhr University of Bochum ( email )

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Bochum, NRW 44780
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Thomas K. Bauer

Rhine-Westphalia Institute for Economic Research (RWI-Essen) ( email )

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IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

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