Labor and Employment Research Fund

Abstract

Using the 5% IPUMS version of the 2000 Census, this paper finds that, compared to another

immigrant who has a job that requires less human-interaction on a daily basis, an immigrant

worker who possesses knowledge in speaking a non-English language and who works in a humaninteraction-

intensive occupation would enjoy an average wage benefit of 4.28%. Also, for those

who work at a job that values language usage and cultural familiarity, immigrants from the

same country of origin are perceived as substitutes, while those from another country would be

complements, a finding that is in accordance with the standard labor supply theory, holding

demand constant. Moreover, a one standard deviation increase in bilateral trade volume between

the United States and the immigrant’s country of origin is predicted to enhance the immigrant’s

returns to working in the Wholesale Trade industry by 3.36% on average, a pattern that is very

different for immigrants who came from a country that uses English as an official language.