The sizeable and continuous flow of immigrants into the United States seems to indicate that there is a positive return to moving. Many economic immigrants, however, never achieve pay-parity with similarly educated native-born workers while others

Question

eventually outdo domestic-born workers in salary wage advancement. Explain.

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Many economic immigrants never achieve pay-parity with similarly educated native-born workers because of a lack of skill transfer ability. Some of the skills that migrants possess may not be perfectly transferable because of occupational licensing requirements, specific training or different languages. On the other hand, moving to another country is costly and it is possible that only those with great motivation for personal economic growth and willingness to sacrifice current consumption migrate. This self-selection process may ensure that only the motivated, hardworking and highly skilled individuals, such as scientists, engineers, physicians and entrepreneurs arrive in other nations and are able to outdo domestic-born workers in salary wage advancement.