Migration from Central America and the Caribbean: The Impact of Social Indicators on Labor Market Performance

Sammanfattning: In the last 50 years, immigration from Central America and the Caribbean to the United States of America has been increasing. Because these immigrants often find themselves in vulnerable positions, their successful integration into society should be of public interest. To tackle this problem, it is important to understand the determinants of successful integration. Since labor market integration has been considered to be a crucial factor for the integration in a new society, it is especially important to study the determinants of the migrants' labor market participation. This thesis addresses the question whether the social network of the migrants, both in the home and the destination country, has a significant impact on the labor market outcome. Using data from the Latin American Migration Project covering six countries from that region (Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Puerto Rico), the influence of social indicators concerning the family and individual migratory history, the relations in the US, language ability and employment characteristics on three different labor market outcomes will be tested. The results suggest that social indicators are associated with the labor market integration of immigrants from Central America and the Caribbean but vary depending on the country of origin and the dimension of the integration process studied