Returns on Human Capital in Ethic Enclaves: New York City's Chinatown

This study addresses a recent controversy over the character of labor markets in enclave economies: does the enclave provide positive earnings-returns to educational and other human capital characteristics to immigrant minority-group workers? We study the case of the Chinese enclave in New York City, using three distinct operational definitions of the enclave-as a place of residence, place of work, and industrial sector. Regardless of the definition employed, there is considerable evidence of positive returns for earnings for male enclave workers from education, labor market experience, and English-language ability. By contrast, none of these human capital variables is positively related to income of female enclave workers. Implications of these results for comparative research are suggested.