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Author: McHenry, Peter
Resulting in 3 citations.
1. McHenry, Peter
Does Low Wealth Constrain Long-Distance Migration?
Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) Review 68,1 (January 2015): 79-119.
Also: http://ilr.sagepub.com/content/68/1/79.abstract
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Sage Publications
Keyword(s): Assets; Debt/Borrowing; Geocoded Data; Migration; Mobility, Residential; Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP); Wealth

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Some families may have too little wealth (or liquidity) to finance a long-distance move, which may involve transportation costs and foregone earnings. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) and the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), the author assesses whether wealth holdings directly influence migration decisions in the United States. The analysis focuses on long-distance migration and shows consistently that migration is common among households with little or negative net worth and that greater wealth does not increase the likelihood of migration. In addition, differential wealth holdings do not explain why minority groups and the less-educated are relatively unlikely to undertake long-distance moves. The author also finds little evidence that wealth holdings influence a person’s migration response to local labor demand shocks.
Bibliography Citation
McHenry, Peter. "Does Low Wealth Constrain Long-Distance Migration?" Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) Review 68,1 (January 2015): 79-119.
2. McHenry, Peter
Does Low Wealth Constrain Long-Distance Migration? Evidence from the NLSY79 Cohort
Working Paper Number 119. Department of Economics, College of William and Mary, March 2012.
Also: http://ideas.repec.org/p/cwm/wpaper/119.html
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Department of Economics, The College of William and Mary
Keyword(s): Labor Market Outcomes; Migration; Wealth

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Although long-distance migration can be very beneficial, some families may have too little wealth (or liquidity) to finance a move, which may involve direct transportation costs and foregone earnings. I use individual-level longitudinal data (NLSY79) to assess whether wealth holdings directly influence migration decisions in the U.S. I focus on long-distance migration between labor markets, which imposes high migration costs but offers potentially better labor market outcomes. Contrary to a liquidity constraint story, I find consistently that plenty of people with low and even negative wealth move, and that they are even more likely to move than people with higher wealth holdings. The lack of a positive relationship between wealth and cross-labor market migration remains in alternative subsets of respondents, controlling for many household characteristics, in very flexible nonlinear models, and when using inheritance income as an instrument for wealth.
Bibliography Citation
McHenry, Peter. "Does Low Wealth Constrain Long-Distance Migration? Evidence from the NLSY79 Cohort." Working Paper Number 119. Department of Economics, College of William and Mary, March 2012.
3. McHenry, Peter
McInerney, Melissa P.
Estimating Hispanic-White Wage Gaps Among Women: The Importance of Controlling for Cost of Living
Journal of Labor Research 36,3 (September 2015): 249-273.
Also: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12122-015-9210-3
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: Springer
Keyword(s): Ethnic Differences; Hispanic Studies; Wage Differentials; Wage Gap; Women

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Despite concern regarding labor market discrimination against Hispanics, previously published estimates show that Hispanic women earn higher hourly wages than white women with similar observable characteristics. This estimated wage premium is likely biased upwards because of the omission of an important control variable: cost of living. We show that Hispanic women live in locations (e.g., cities) with higher costs of living than whites. After we account for cost of living, the estimated Hispanic-white wage differential for non-immigrant women falls by approximately two-thirds. As a result, we find no statistically significant difference in wages between Hispanic and white women in the NLSY97.
Bibliography Citation
McHenry, Peter and Melissa P. McInerney. "Estimating Hispanic-White Wage Gaps Among Women: The Importance of Controlling for Cost of Living." Journal of Labor Research 36,3 (September 2015): 249-273.