Intermarriage and the Economic Assimilation of Immigrants

Abstract

This article investigates the assimilation role of intermarriage between immigrants and natives. Intermarried immigrants earn significantly higher incomes than endogamously married immigrants, even after we take account of human capital endowments and endogeneity of intermarriage. The premium does not appear to be a reward for unobservable individual characteristics. Natives who intermarry do not receive this premium, nor do immigrants who intermarry into another ethnic group. The premium is mainly attributable to a faster speed of assimilation rather than any difference in labor-market quality between intermarried and nonintermarried immigrants at the point of arrival.