SARIT COHEN GOLDNER, ZVI ECKSTEIN and YORAM WEISS

Book

The MIT Press, September 2012

Also available at Amazon

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, Soviet Jews emigrated in large numbers to Israel. Over the next ten years, Israel absorbed approximately 900,000 immigrants from the former Soviet Union, an influx that equaled about twenty percent of the Israeli population. Most of these new immigrants of working age were college-educated and highly skilled. Once in Israel, they were eligible for a generous package of benefits, including housing subsidies, Hebrew language training, and vocational education. This episode provides a natural experiment for testing the consequences of a large immigration inflow of skilled workers. This book provides a detailed analysis of the gradual process of occupational upgrading of immigrants and the associated rise in their wages.

Based on their analysis, the authors conclude that even a very large and unanticipated wave of immigration can be integrated within the local labor market without any significant long-term adverse economic effect on natives. The small effect on wages and employment of natives is explained by the capital inflows into Israel and the gradual entry of immigrants into high-skill jobs as they invest in local human capital. An important contribution of the book to the immigration literature is the formulation and estimation of stochastic dynamic models that combine job search with investment in human capital and the analysis of alternative government policies within this framework.

Table of Contents of the Book

Tables and Figures

We present a complete set of the tables and figures included in the book, along with the code used to construct them (where available). Note that the Excel files include hidden worksheets containing the data and calculations.

·         chapter 2	code for Tables 2.3 and 2.4code for Table 2.5
·         chapter 3	not available
·         chapter 4	code for Table 4.1code for Table 4.2code for Table 4.3code for Table 4.5code for Table 4.17code for Tables 4.18 and 4.19 and Figures 4.1 and 4.4
·         chapter 5	not available
·         chapter 6	not available
·         chapter 7	code for Figures 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4 and 7.5code for Figures 7.6, 7.7, 7.8 and 7.9code for Tables 7.3 and 7.4 and Figures 7.10 and 7.11

Description of Data Files

·         CBS Labor Force Survey	used in chapters 2, 4 and 7provided by the Israel Social Science Data Center (ISDC) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
·         CBS Labor Force Survey – Couples	used in chapter 7provided by the Israel Social Science Data Center (ISDC) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
·         CBS Income Survey	used in chapters 2 and 7provided by the Israel Social Science Data Center (ISDC) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
·         Brookdale Survey	used in chapter 4data file

.

Related Papers

1. M. Gotlibovski “Absorption of 1990-92 Immigrants in Israel: Interaction between Housing and Labor Markets“, 1997 (Hebrew).
2. S. Cohen and C. T. Hsieh “Macroeconomic and Labor Market Impact of Russian Immigration in Israel“, 2001.
3. Z. Eckstein and Y. Weiss “The Integration of Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in the Israeli Labor Market“, 2002.
4. Y. Weiss, R. Sauer and M. Gotlibovski “Immigration, Search and Loss of Skill“, 2003.
5. Z. Eckstein and Y. Weiss “On the Wage Growth of Immigrants: Israel 1990-2000“, 2004.
6. S. Cohen-Goldner and Z. Eckstein “Labor Mobility of Immigrants: Training, Experience, Language, and Opportunities“, 2008.
7. S. Cohen-Goldner and Z. Eckstein “Estimating the Return to Training and Occupational Experience: The Case of Female Immigrants“, 2010.

Other Papers

1. S. Cohen “Training and Work Experience Effects on Absorption of Female Immigrants in Labor Market“, 2001 (Hebrew).
2. Z. Eckstein and S. Cohen “Participation of USSR Female Immigrants in Vocational Training“, 2001 (Hebrew).
3. S. Cohen and Z. Eckstein “The Participation of Female Immigrants in Vocational Trainings“, 2002.
4. S. Cohen-Goldner and Z. Eckstein “Evaluating Active Labor Market Policies for Female Immigrants“, 2005.
5. S. Cohen-Goldner and Z. Eckstein “Evaluating Active Labor Market Policies for Female Immigrants“, 2006 (Hebrew).
6. S. Cohen-Goldner “Immigrants in the Israeli Hi-Tech Industry: Comparison to Natives and the Effect of Training“, 2006.
7. S. Cohen-Goldner, Z. Eckstein and T. Larom “Ten Years of Integration of Former Soviet Union Immigrants in the Israeli Labor Market“, 2006 (Hebrew).

Presentations

1. Z. Eckstein and S. Cohen “Immigrants in the Labor Market: Impact, Integration and Methods“, 2001.
2. Z. Eckstein and S. Cohen “Labor Mobility of Immigrants: Training, Experience, Language and Opportunities“, 2002.
3. Eleanor Cooper, Westlake High School, 9th grade (freshman) “Russians in Israel: A Flood of Immigrants“, 2005.
4. Z. Eckstein “Immigrants and the Labor Market: Facts and Policy“, 2006.