Black like us? The Occupational Integration of Black Immigrants

This paper examines Black immigrant occupational integration. We create an Index of Revealed Advantage in Migration, which captures international differences in selectivity. Except for Caribbean-English and Other Immigrants, first generation Black immigrants have lower occupational achievement than native-born Non-Hispanic African Americans, that is, “Native born Blacks.” However, second generation Black immigrants have greater occupational achievement Native born Blacks. Except for Caribbean-English and Other Immigrants, first generation Black immigrants have lower occupational achievement than native-born Non-Hispanic white-only Americans that is, “Native born Whites.” Second generation Africans have statistically identical occupational achievement with Native born Whites; otherwise, each group of second generation Black immigrants has lower occupational achievement Native born Whites. Institutional subscribers to the NBER working paper series, and residents of developing countries may download this paper without additional charge at www.nber.org.