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How Labor Migrants Fare pp 167–190Cite as

The English language fluency and occupational success of ethnic minority immigrant men living in English metropolitan areas

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Part of the book series: Population Economics ((POPULATION))

Abstract

This paper examines two crucial aspects of the assimilation experience of ethnic minority immigrants in the United Kingdom. It explores the determinants of their English language (speaking) fluency and the key role such skills play in their occupational success. Our sample is derived from the Fourth National Survey of Ethnic Minorities undertaken in 1994. Uniquely this data contains an interviewer-assessed measure of English language fluency. Importantly, we also attempt to control for possible endogeneity bias in the estimates of the effect of language fluency on occupational success. We find that fluency is associated with significantly higher mean hourly occupational wages.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Public Sector Economics Research Centre, Department of Economics, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK

    Michael A. Shields & Stephen Wheatley Price

Authors
  1. Michael A. Shields
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  2. Stephen Wheatley Price
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit (IZA), Schaumburg-Lippe-Straße 7-9, 53113, Bonn, Germany

    Klaus F. Zimmermann

  2. Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania, Locust Walk 3718, 19104, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Amelie Constant

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© 2004 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Shields, M.A., Wheatley Price, S. (2004). The English language fluency and occupational success of ethnic minority immigrant men living in English metropolitan areas. In: Zimmermann, K.F., Constant, A. (eds) How Labor Migrants Fare. Population Economics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-24753-1_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-24753-1_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-53448-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-24753-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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