TY  - JOUR
AU  - Friedberg,Rachel M.
TI  - You Can't Take It With You? Immigrant Assimilation and the Portability of Human Capital
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 5837
PY  - 1996
Y2  - November 1996
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w5837
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w5837.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Rachel M. Friedberg
Department of Economics
Brown University
64 Waterman Street
Providence, RI  02912
Tel: 401/863-7578
Fax: 401/863-1970
E-Mail: rachel_friedberg@brown.edu
AB  - The national origin of an individual's human capital is a crucial determinant of its value.  Education acquired abroad is significantly less valued than education obtained domestically. This difference can fully explain the earnings disadvantage of immigrants relative to comparable natives in Israel.  Variation in the return to foreign schooling across origin countries may reflect differences in its quality and compatibility with the host labor market.  Three factors   language proficiency, domestic labor market experience, and further education following immigration   appear to raise the return to education acquired abroad, suggesting a compound benefit of policies encouraging immigrants to obtain language and other training.
ER  -