Back to home pageSUMMER 1994 - NUMBER 2
94.11.01 - English - Yinon COHEN, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv (Israel), and Andrea TYREE, SUNY at Stony Brook (U.S.A.)
Palestinian and Jewish Israeli-Born Immigrants in the United States (p. 243-255)
This article considers both Arab and Jewish emigration from Israel to the United States, relying on the 5% Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) of the 1980 U.S. census. Using the ancestry and language questions to identify Jews and Arabs, we found that over 30% of Israeli-born Americans are Palestinian-Arab natives of Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip. While the Jews are of higher educational levels, hold better jobs and enjoy higher incomes than their Arab counterparts, both groups have relatively high socioeconomic characteristics. Both have high rates of self-employment, particularly the Palestinian-Arabs, who appear to serve as middleman minority in the grocery store business in the cities where they reside. The fact that nearly a third of Israeli-born immigrants are Arabs accounts for the occupational diversity previously observed of Israelis in America but does not account for their income diversity as much as does differences between early and recent immigrants. (UNITED STATES, ISRAEL, JEWS, IMMIGRANTS, SOCIO-ECONOMIC GROUPS)
94.11.02 - English - Tova BENSKI, Bar-Ilan University, 52100 Ramat-Gan (Israel)
Ethnic Convergence Processes under Conditions of Persisting Socioeconomic-Decreasing Cultural Differences: The Case of Israeli Society (p. 256-280)
The central claim of the present study is that under conditions of persistent ethnic inequality accompanied by widespread acculturation, ethnic convergence processes may proceed in various directions among different subsections of the same group. Expectations based on three theoretical approaches that assume different directions of ethnic convergence are tested on data of friendship patterns among two generations of Iraqi Jews in Israel, using logistic regression procedures for polytomous dependent variables. The findings substantiate the central claim and lend general support to the triple melting pot thesis. An explanatory framework that could prove to be a fruitful direction for future research is suggested. (ISRAEL, ETHNIC GROUPS, MIGRANT ASSIMILATION, SOCIAL STRUCTURE)
94.11.03 - English - Isabel KAPRIELIAN-CHURCHILL, The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 252 Bloor St West, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1V6 (Canada)
Rejecting "Misfits": Canada and the Nansen Passport (p. 281-306)
After 1918, millions of refugees from the former Russian and Ottoman Empires found themselves without citizenship. To facilitate refugee travel and work, Dr Fridtjof Nansen, League of Nations HCR, established an international identity certificate, generally known as the "Nansen passport." This document identified the refugee but did not give him the same rights as a legal passport, most notably, the right of return. After the war, racism in Canada's immigration program and a concern for potential public charges affected the way in which Canada dealt with the Nansen passport, her participation at international conferences dealing with refugees, and the entry of refugees qua refugees. These developments occurred at a time when Canada was trying to establish an international presence and a measure of independence from Britain. (CANADA, REFUGEES, IMMIGRATION POLICY)
94.11.04 - English - Roger ZETTER, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Headington, Oxford OX3 0BP (U.K.)
The Greek-Cypriot Refugees: Perceptions of Return under Conditions of Protracted Exile (p. 307-322)
Constituting a crucial element in the search for a permanent solution to the Cyprus problem, the needs and aspirations of the 180,000 refugees are examined in this article. Of the three durable solutions to refugee crises, repatriation has consistently been advocated as the only option for the Cypriot situation. Contrasting the images of temporariness and permanency of exile, the article examines the extent to which the refugees, in the light of the dramatic social and economic changes that have taken place in the refugee community since the exodus of 1974, might perceive of return as their sole feasible or potential objective. The article argues that the ambiguous identity of the refugees, as both insiders and outsiders, and the protracted political uncertainty of their status give contradictory messages about the likely scale, processes, and success of their return. (CYPRUS, REFUGEES, REPATRIATION)
94.11.05 - English - Thanh V. TRAN, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02167 (U.S.A.), and Thang D. NGUYEN, Technical Development Enterprises
Gender and Satisfaction with the Host Society Among Indochinese Refugees (p. 323-337)
This study examines gender differences in satisfaction with the host society (SWHS) in terms of satisfaction with housing, neighborhood and life. A sample of 1,384 respondents aged 17 to 73 was selected from the 1982 national survey of economic self-sufficiency of Indochinese refugees. Regression analysis revealed that for men: (1) satisfaction with housing was influenced by age upon arrival in the United States and financial problems; (2) satisfaction with neighborhood was influenced by age upon arrival in the United States, lack of health care, financial problems and ethnicity; and (3) satisfaction with life was influenced by age upon arrival in the United States, employment, lack of health care, financial problems, and English ability. For women, the regression analysis revealed slightly different results: (1) satisfaction with housing was influenced by urban background in country of origin and length of residence in the United States; (2) satisfaction with neighborhood was influenced by financial problems, education in country of origin, and ethnicity; and (3) satisfaction with life had no statistical significant relationship with selected independent variables. Gender and age had significant interaction effect on satisfaction with housing, neighborhood and life. Gender and education had significant interaction effect on satisfaction with neighborhood. Implications for practice and future research are discussed. (UNITED STATES, SOUTHEASTERN ASIA, REFUGEES, SEX DIFFERENTIALS, SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY)
94.11.06 - English - Harry R. CLARKE, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Vic. 3083 (Australia)
Entry Charges on Immigrants (p. 338-354)
With a perfectly elastic supply of immigrants and no domestic distortions, the pure Pareto gains to residents from immigration are maximized by an open door immigration policy. The only role then for entry charges is cost recovery. With inelastic supply, charges may be levied for optimal tariff reasons although there are practical difficulties in estimating appropriate supply elasticities. Priceable externalities provide a rationale for charging if, and only if, there are difficulties in making discriminatory reimbursements of optimal toll revenues to residents. Otherwise, relevant externalities should be internalized via appropriate Pigovian taxes and discriminatory reimbursements paid to residents. Then, an open door policy without entry charges should be pursued. Transaction costs and unpriceable externalities provide a weak case for charging. Where quotas are imposed for political reasons or to ease potentially unfavorable distributional implications, there are convincing second-best arguments for fees and, equivalently, quota auctions. The latter policies are generally preferable to unpriced quotas and to asset tests, even if coupled with a fee, whatever the degree of international capital mobility. Independendy of humanitarian concerns, liberal immigration policies can be based on the self-interest of residents provided immigrants pay all costs they impose on a resident population. (ECONOMIC DEMOGRAPHY, IMMIGRATION, TAXATION, ECONOMIC THEORY)
AUTOMNE 1994 - NUMBER 3
94.11.07 - English - B. Lindsay LOWELL, US Department of Labour (U.S.A.), and Zhongren JinG, University of Maryland (U.S.A.)
Unauthorized Workers and Immigration Reform: What Can We Ascertain from Employers? (p. 427-448)
This article estimates the unauthorized U.S. labor force and explores employers' initial reactions to the passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). A sample of businesses, undertaken to evaluate IRCA impact, supplies information on hiring practices. A selectivity correction model is used to impute 2.6 million unauthorized workers in the entire sample which compares favorably with other estimates. The estimate is tabulated by questions about IRCA: the findings suggest that a large proportion of the unauthorized labor force uses fraudulent documents, many without the knowledge of their employer. This may be associated with the apparent lack of marked change in patterns of unauthorized hiring in the period immediately following IRCA passage. (UNITED STATES, ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, MANPOWER, IMMIGRATION POLICY)
94.11.08 - English - Philip Q. YANG, University of California, Los Angeles, CA (U.S.A.)
Explaining Immigrant Naturalization (p. 449-477)
Prior research on immigrant naturalization has focused mainly on the effects of immigrants' adaptation experiences and demographic characteristics on their propensity to naturalize. This article proposes a broader analytical framework which incorporates immigrants' individual characteristics and larger social contexts in the country of origin and the country of destination to explain the likelihood of citizenship acquisition. The framework is tested for a cohort of recent immigrants, using the PUMS data from the 1980 U.S. census. The results show that economic, political, social, cultural and geographical conditions in the country of origin, and immigrants ethnic communities and urban concentration in the country of destination, to a large extent influence immigrants' propensity for naturalization and that, net of the contextual factors, many of the immigrants' adaptation and demographic characteristics are also significant predictors of citizenship acquisition. The costs, benefits and meaning of naturalization and their intervening roles in the naturalization process are also discussed. (UNITED STATES, NATURALIZATION, IMMIGRANTS)
94.11.09 - English - Dudley L. POSTON, Jr., Texas A& M University (U.S.A.)
Patterns of Economic Attainment of Foreign-Born Male Workers in the United States (p. 478-500)
This article is concerned with the economic attainment patterns of foreign-born male workers in the United States in 1980. The economic attainment patterns of males born in 92 countries of the world are examined and are compared among themselves, as well as among the seven principal U.S.-born groups of Anglos, Afro-American, Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, Asian Americans, and American Indians. For all foreign-born groups, the article examines the degree to which such individual-level factors as educational attainment, labor market experience, and so forth account for their variation in economic attainment. We conclude that although microlevel characteristics are not the complete answer, they are important for most foreign-born populations in explaining their variation in earnings. (UNITED STATES, MANPOWER, IMMIGRANT WORKERS, SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS)
94.11.10 - English - Joan R. KAHN, University of Maryland (U.S.A.)
Immigrant and Native Fertility during the 1980s: Adaptation and Expectations for the Future (p. 501-519)
This article compares both the fertility behavior and expectations for future childbearing of foreign and native-born women in the United States using data from the 1980 U.S. Census and the 1986 and 1988 June Current Population Surveys. The goals are to first analyze the sources of the growing fertility gap between immigrant and native women and then to explore the extent to which immigrants adapt (or intend to adapt) their fertility once in the United States. The results show that the immigrant-native fertility gap has increased during the 1980s - not because immigrant fertility has increased, but rather because fertility dropped at a faster rate for natives than for immigrants. The relatively high fertility of immigrants compared to natives can be completely explained by compositional differences with respect to age, education, income and ethnicity. The two analyses of adaptation showed somewhat different results. The synthetic cohort analysis, which traced the fertility behavior of a fixed cohort of immigrants during the 1980s, found little evidence of adaptation or assimilation, except for Southeast Asian immigrants. On the other hand, the analysis of fertility expectations suggests that although immigrants 'expect' to have higher fertility than similar natives, they tend to adapt their fertility 'goals' over time, both within and across generations. (UNITED STATES, DIFFERENTIAL FERTILITY, IMMIGRANTS)
94.11.11 - English - Heinz FASSMANN, Austrian Academy of Sciences (Austria), and Rainer MÜNZ, Humboldt University (Germany)
European East-West Migration, 1945-1992 (p. 520-538)
This article's thesis is that Europe is undergoing an international but intracontinental migration such as it has not seen since the beginning of the Cold War. The authors cite several reasons for the recent outburst of migration: ethnic relocation, the search for refuge and asylum, and the need for work. They also present a country-by-country description of sending and receiving nations. The push and pull factors causing such massive migration cannot only be contained by the present methods of having each government erect legislative and other barriers - such as armed border guards - against newcomers. (EUROPE, INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, IMMIGRATION POLICY)
94.11.12 - English - Sally E. FINDLEY, Columbia University (U.S.A.)
Does Drought Increase Migration? A Study of Migration from Rural Mali during the 1983-1985 Drought (p. 539-553)
Using data from a longitudinal panel study conducted in 1982 and 1989 in the first region of Mali, this article demonstrates that the level of migration did not rise during the drought of 1983-1985. However, there was a dramatic increase in the migration of women and children during the severe 1983-1985 drought. Along with this increase in migration by women and children, there was a shift to short-cycle circulation, with 64% of the migrants adopting circular patterns. The study describes the characteristics of these migrants and recommends changes to development and migration policies that will facilitate such migrations in subsequent droughts. (MALI, DROUGHT, OUT-MIGRATIION, CIRCULAR MIGRATION)
94.11.13 - English - Suzan M. ILCAN, University of Windson
Peasant Struggles and Social Change: Migration, Households and Gender in a Rural Turkish Society (p. 554-579)
This article sheds light on the interrelationship of seasonal migration, subsistence production and peasant relations in a community (Sakli) located in Turkey's northwestern countryside. Most studies argue that rural outmigration is either an adaptation to persistent unemployment or a phenomenon resulting from pressures and counterpressures in the social relations of production. These approaches tend to overlook the specific features of rural culture and power in determining conditions for seasonal migration and its effects on social relations. While migrant labor is understood by local villagers as forming part of a continual battle to preserve local tradition and kinship ties, this article shows how it reduces the dominion of landlords while creating internal household differentiation and gendered hierarchies. (TURKEY, SEASONAL MIGRATIION, PEASANTRY, CLASS STRUGGLE)
Back to home page