The Earnings of Male Hispanic Immigrants in the United States

This paper presents an empirical analysis of earnings differentials among male Hispanic immigrants in the United States. The principal finding of the study is that there are major differences in the rate of economic mobility of the various Hispanic groups. In particular, the rate of economic progress by Cuban immigrants exceeds that of other Hispanic groups, the result in part of the fact that Cuban immigrants have invested more heavily in U.S. schooling than other Hispanic immigrants arriving in this country at the same time. The author concludes that these findings are consistent with the hypothesis that political refugees are likely to face higher costs of return immigration than do “economic” immigrants, and therefore the former have greater incentives to adapt rapidly to the U.S. labor market.