Guven Cahit, Islam Asadul
Department of Economics, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, 3125, Australia,
Demography. 2015 Apr;52(2):513-42. doi: 10.1007/s13524-015-0373-6.
This study estimates the causal effects of language proficiency on the economic and social integration of Australian immigrants. Identifying the effects of languages on socioeconomic outcomes is inherently difficult owing to the endogeneity of language skills. Using the phenomenon that younger children learn languages more easily than older children, we construct an instrumental variable for language proficiency. To achieve this, we consider the age at arrival of immigrants who came as children from Anglophone and non-Anglophone countries. We find a significant positive effect of English proficiency on wages and promotions among adults who immigrated to Australia as children. Higher levels of English proficiency are associated with increased risk-taking, more smoking, and more exercise for men, but have considerable health benefits for women. English language proficiency has a significant influence on partner choice and a number of social outcomes, as well as on children's outcomes, including their levels of academic achievement. The results are robust to alternative specifications, including accounting for between-sibling differences and alternative measures of English skills.
本研究估计了语言能力对澳大利亚移民经济和社会融合的因果效应。由于语言技能的内生性，确定语言对社会经济成果的影响本质上具有难度。利用年幼儿童比年长儿童更容易学习语言这一现象，我们构建了一个语言能力的工具变量。为实现这一点，我们考虑了来自英语国家和非英语国家的儿童移民的抵达年龄。我们发现，对于儿童时期移民到澳大利亚的成年人来说，英语能力对工资和晋升有显著的积极影响。较高的英语水平与男性更多的冒险行为、更多吸烟和更多锻炼相关，但对女性有相当大的健康益处。英语水平对伴侣选择和一些社会成果以及儿童的成果（包括他们的学业成绩水平）有重大影响。这些结果对于替代设定是稳健的，包括考虑兄弟姐妹之间的差异以及英语技能的替代衡量方法。
