Work

Legal Status and Wage Disparities for Mexican Immigrants

Year: 2010

Type: article

Abstract: This paper employs a unique method of imputing the legal status of Mexican immigrants in the 1996-1999 and 2001-2003 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation to provide new evidence of the role of legal authorization in the U.S. on workers' wages. Using growth curve techniques, we estimate wage trajectories for four groups: documented Mexican immigrants, undocumented Mexican immigrants, U.S-born Mexican Americans, and native non-Latino whites. Our estimates reveal a 17 percent wage disparity between documented and undocumented Mexican immigrant men, and a 9 percent documented-undocumented wage disparity for Mexican immigrant women. We also find that in comparison to authorized Mexicans, undocumented Mexican immigrants have lower returns to human capital and slower wage growth.

Source: Social Forces

DOI: 10.1353/sof.2010.0082

Authors: M. Hall, E. Greenman, G. Farkas

Institutions: Pennsylvania State University, University of Illinois Chicago, University of California, Irvine

Language: English

Topic: Migration and Labor Dynamics

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Decent work and economic growth, Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: green

Funder: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development