Mexican labor migration to the United States: Determinants, labor market outcomes and dynamics

Mexico-U.S. migration remains a hotly debated topic partly because many basic issues are still poorly understood. What are the determinants of households' migration decisions? What are the dynamics of the migration process? What factors influence the assimilation and labor market outcomes of migrants in the United States? This dissertation sheds light on these topics both at the theoretical and empirical levels.; The first chapter examines the self-selection of Mexican workers into the local, Mexican migrant, and U.S. migrant labor markets, within a structural family labor supply model. The main determinants of households' migration decisions are found to be the expected economic returns on each market, as well as previous family and community migration experience. Moreover, in contrast with views of migration as a step-wise process, this study demonstrates that the choice among potential destinations is made simultaneously, and that internal and international migration attract different types of households.; The second chapter investigates further the self-sustaining nature of the migration process. A dynamic discrete sequential choice migration model is derived and estimated with a panel of Mexican household heads for the years 1980-1989. The empirical results show that, after controlling for unobserved heterogeneity, previous migration experience and migration-related variables are the strongest predictors of current individual migration decisions. This persistence in migration patterns implies that large temporary disruptions such as the December 1994 Mexican peso devaluation may permanently increase migratory flows by inducing new migrants to enter the U.S. labor market.; Finally, the third chapter focuses on the relationship between English language fluency and earnings of undocumented and temporary Mexican migrants to the United States. The results support the hypothesis that the decision to invest in English language skills responds to economic incentives. Further, English fluency is shown to be a crucial determinant of migrants' earnings: undocumented and temporary status is associated with lower wages only through its negative impact on English fluency. Therefore, a policy of improving migrants' access to English language training would enhance their earnings capacity, thus reducing their future demands on the U.S. welfare system.