Admission-group salary differentials in the United States: The significance of the labour-market institutional selection of high-skilled workers
Title | Admission-group salary differentials in the United States: The significance of the labour-market institutional selection of high-skilled workers |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2013 |
Authors | Hao, L |
Journal | Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies |
Volume | 39 |
Pagination | 1337-1360 |
Date Published | Sep 1 |
ISBN Number | 1369183X (ISSN) |
Keywords | High-Skilled Workers, higher education, Immigration Policy, LABOR market, labor migration, labor relations, Labour-Market Institutional Selection, Oaxaca Method, policy analysis, Salary Structure, skilled labor, United States |
Abstract | In 1990, a temporary-to-permanent pathway was established for highly skilled workers admitted to the United States under non-immigrant programmes. This paper argues that this policy shift has allowed employers to play a crucial role in the immigration of highly skilled workers, thereby creating labour-market institutional selection that gives a salary advantage to highly skilled temporarily admitted workers retained in the US. Through analyses of the salary differentials among admission-category groups, the paper finds that the salary advantage is based on recruitment from Western countries, adjustment from temporary to permanent status after a second employer screening, working in the information technology sector and the private sector, holding a supervisory position, or having a skill-matched job, all of which are consequences of institutional selection rather than individual self-selection. The results also reveal a difference between those admitted from abroad and those recruited from graduating foreign students in US higher-education institutions, which suggests a distinction between overseas and domestic hiring. Policy implications for the US and other receiving countries are discussed. © 2013 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC. |