Mexican Migrants to the United States: an Alternative Methodology

Mexicans are the largest immigrant group in the United States. There is a lack of consensus about whether migrants from Mexico are positively or negatively selected. Data from the Mexican census suggest migrants are negatively selected while data from the U.S. census suggest intermediate selection....

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Autor principal: Martínez, José
Formato: Artículo
Lenguaje:español
Publicado: Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://ensayos.uanl.mx/index.php/ensayos/article/view/61
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author Martínez, José
author_facet Martínez, José
author_sort Martínez, José
collection Artículos de Revistas UANL
description Mexicans are the largest immigrant group in the United States. There is a lack of consensus about whether migrants from Mexico are positively or negatively selected. Data from the Mexican census suggest migrants are negatively selected while data from the U.S. census suggest intermediate selection. Both data sources undercount migrants, with Mexican sources systematically undercounting more educated migrants and U.S. sources undercounting less educated migrants. Net migration techniques are used to estimate migration flows during the 1990s and obtain estimates which present a more accurate characterization of Mexican immigrants. Three main conclusions are reached. First, the net flow of Mexicans to the United States during the 1990s was about 10 percent less than the U.S. census data suggest. Second, migrants are younger and less female than suggested by the U.S. census, but older and more female than suggested by the Mexican census. Third, U.S. census data significantly overstate the educational attainment of migrants. However, the disagreement in the literature on migrant selection results less from who is counted in Mexican and U.S. data and more on the responses given to the Mexican and U.S. census questions on schooling. JEL Classification: F22, O15, J15.
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physical Ensayos Revista de Economía; Vol. 32 No. 1 (2013): May 2013; 1-30
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spelling ensayos-article-612025-01-13T20:34:37Z Mexican Migrants to the United States: an Alternative Methodology Martínez, José Net Migration Mexico Selectivity. Mexicans are the largest immigrant group in the United States. There is a lack of consensus about whether migrants from Mexico are positively or negatively selected. Data from the Mexican census suggest migrants are negatively selected while data from the U.S. census suggest intermediate selection. Both data sources undercount migrants, with Mexican sources systematically undercounting more educated migrants and U.S. sources undercounting less educated migrants. Net migration techniques are used to estimate migration flows during the 1990s and obtain estimates which present a more accurate characterization of Mexican immigrants. Three main conclusions are reached. First, the net flow of Mexicans to the United States during the 1990s was about 10 percent less than the U.S. census data suggest. Second, migrants are younger and less female than suggested by the U.S. census, but older and more female than suggested by the Mexican census. Third, U.S. census data significantly overstate the educational attainment of migrants. However, the disagreement in the literature on migrant selection results less from who is counted in Mexican and U.S. data and more on the responses given to the Mexican and U.S. census questions on schooling. JEL Classification: F22, O15, J15. Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León 2013-05-01 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Peer-reviewed Article Artículo arbitrado por pares application/pdf https://ensayos.uanl.mx/index.php/ensayos/article/view/61 10.29105/ensayos32.1-1 Ensayos Revista de Economía; Vol. 32 No. 1 (2013): May 2013; 1-30 Ensayos Revista de Economía; Vol. 32 Núm. 1 (2013): MAYO 2013; 1-30 2448-8402 1870-221X spa https://ensayos.uanl.mx/index.php/ensayos/article/view/61/47 Derechos de autor 2013 José Martínez https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
spellingShingle Net Migration
Mexico
Selectivity.
Martínez, José
Mexican Migrants to the United States: an Alternative Methodology
thumbnail https://rediab.uanl.mx/themes/sandal5/images/article.gif
title Mexican Migrants to the United States: an Alternative Methodology
title_full Mexican Migrants to the United States: an Alternative Methodology
title_fullStr Mexican Migrants to the United States: an Alternative Methodology
title_full_unstemmed Mexican Migrants to the United States: an Alternative Methodology
title_short Mexican Migrants to the United States: an Alternative Methodology
title_sort mexican migrants to the united states an alternative methodology
topic Net Migration
Mexico
Selectivity.
topic_facet Net Migration
Mexico
Selectivity.
url https://ensayos.uanl.mx/index.php/ensayos/article/view/61
work_keys_str_mv AT martinezjose mexicanmigrantstotheunitedstatesanalternativemethodology