Home Education Outcomes of Children of Asian Intermarriages: Does Gender of the Immigrant Parent Matter?
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Education Outcomes of Children of Asian Intermarriages: Does Gender of the Immigrant Parent Matter?

  • Sukanya Basu EMAIL logo and Michael Insler
Published/Copyright: February 16, 2017
The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy
From the journal The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy Volume 17 Issue 1

Abstract

Studies about the effects of native and immigrant intermarriage on the human capital of children generally ignore disparate impacts by gender, ethnicity, or other attributes. Using 2000 U.S. Census data, we compare the high school dropout rates of 16–17-year-old children of Asian intermarriages and intra-marriages. We study differences between Asian-father and Asian-mother only families, controlling for observable child, parental and residential characteristics, as well as unobservable selection into intermarriage. Despite the higher average education and income levels of intermarried families, the children of Asian-father-native-mother households have higher dropout rates compared to both Asian intra-married and Asian-mother-native-father households. Children of less-educated fathers do worse, relative to children of less-educated mothers, suggesting the importance of intergenerational paternal transmission of education. Racial self-identity is also important: Children identify as “non-Asian” more often when the mother is native, and their families may under-emphasize education bringing them closer to native levels.

Keywords: education of children; intermarriage; ethnic identification
JEL Classification: J15; J12; I21

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to participants at Georgetown Center for Economic Research Biennial Conference 2015, Stockman Conference at the University of Rochester 2015, seminar participants at Union College for feedback. All remaining errors are our own.

Appendix

Table 11:

OLS estimates of the effects of intermarriage on the high school dropout probability: using ACS data.

Asian Immigrant Mother/Native Father
VariablesACS 2009 to 2015 combined2009201020112012201320142015
Intermarriage−0.00320.0030−0.0206*0.0057−0.00160.0040−0.0019−0.0134
(0.0053)(0.0140)(0.0118)(0.0090)(0.0058)(0.0146)(0.0123)(0.0087)
Observations5,331671775700771765839810
R20.02930.05960.29700.11590.07810.11330.34200.0914
Asian Immigrant Father/Native Mother
VariablesACS 2009 to 2015 combined2009201020112012201320142015
Intermarriage0.00230.0151−0.0147−0.00810.0018−0.01810.0022−0.0023
(0.0056)(0.0161)(0.0148)(0.0059)(0.0046)(0.0114)(0.0037)(0.0117)
Observations5,146684752689728721799773
R20.04110.13780.26300.10200.13880.07900.12890.1068

  1. Notes: Robust standard errors in parentheses.

  2. p <0.1.

  3. p <0.05.

  4. p <0.01.

  5. Data is from the 2009–2015 American Community Surveys. Appropriate population weights were used for the annual estimates. The combined estimate is unweighted. All regressions use the same controls as eq. 1). Column 1 also includes year fixed effects.

Table 12:

Racial identity statistics for teenagers and adult, differentiated by type of marriage of parents from the CPS.

Asian Immigrant & Native SpouseIntra-married
Immigrant MotherImmigrant FatherBoth immigrant
Percentage (Teenager)21.81266.2
Percentage (Adult)29.8415.3254.84
Race characteristics
Teenager: Identifies as Asian49.0816.6783.53
Adult: Identifies as Asian49.0240.3580.8

  1. Source: Combined Current Population Surveys, 2000.

Figure 1: Education distribution of Asian immigrant parents: by type of marriage.
Figure 1:

Education distribution of Asian immigrant parents: by type of marriage.

Figure 2: Education distribution of Asian immigrant parents: by sub-ethnicity.
Figure 2:

Education distribution of Asian immigrant parents: by sub-ethnicity.

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Published Online: 2017-2-16

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https://doi.org/10.1515/bejeap-2016-0214
Keywords for this article
education of children; intermarriage; ethnic identification

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Research Articles
  2. The Market Value of R&D in Emerging Economies: Evidence from India
  3. Are You What You Eat? Healthy Behaviour and Risk Preferences
  4. The Impacts of Rural Property Rights on Urban Unemployment, Wage Inequality, and Welfare in Developing Countries
  5. Lobbying as a Guard against Extremism
  6. Information Acquisition in Vertical Relations
  7. What Extent of Welfare Loss is Caused by the Disparity between Perceived and Scientific Risks? A Case Study of Food Irradiation
  8. Characteristics and Employment of Applicants for Social Security Disability Insurance over the Business Cycle
  9. Preferences Toward Leniency under Mandatory Criminal Sentencing Guidelines: Role-in-the-Offense Adjustments for Federal Drug Trafficking Defendants
  10. The Effect of Kinship Placement Laws on Foster Children’s Well-Being
  11. Are Immigrants in Favour of Immigration? Evidence from England and Wales
  12. Competition, Product Innovation and Licensing
  13. The Impact of Educational Mismatches on Wages: The Influence of Measurement Error and Unobserved Heterogeneity
  14. Education Outcomes of Children of Asian Intermarriages: Does Gender of the Immigrant Parent Matter?
  15. Letters
  16. Endogenous Leadership in Tax Competition: A Combination of the Effects of Market Power and Strategic Interaction
  17. Can Catastrophic Long-Term Care Insurance Policies Increase Private Insurance Coverage and Reduce Medicaid Expenditure?
  18. Getting Girls to Schools! – Assessing the Impacts of a Targeted Program on Enrollment and Academic Performance
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