published in: Economics of Education Review, 2003, 22 (5), 469-480
This paper analyzes the effects of language practice on earnings among adult male
immigrants in Canada using the 1991 Census. Earnings are shown to increase with
schooling, pre-immigration experience and duration in Canada, as well as with proficiency in
the official languages (English and French). Using selectivity correction techniques, it is
shown that there is complementarity between language skills and both schooling and pre-immigration
experience. That is, greater proficiency in the official languages enhances the
effects on earnings of schooling and pre-immigration labor market experience. Language
proficiency and post-migration experience appear to be substitutes, that is, those with greater
proficiency have a smaller effect of time in Canada on earnings.
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