Integrating via the Internet – Examining the Connection Between Internet Use and Immigrant Earnings

• In Event: 2164 - Internet and Society: Connection and Integration

Abstract

The immigrant integration literature frequently focuses on the role of networks during an immigrant’s socioeconomic adjustment in the host country, such as setting up initial employment positions. Immigrant networks, however, have been shown to channel migrants into oppressive and hostile work environments, leaving them little room for upward mobility. As networks are decreasing in their value, there is another tool immigrants are increasingly using to integrate into the United States – the internet. The digital divide between immigrants and the native-born population has been effectively erased in recent years, and this paper examines the benefits immigrants can accrue when they rely on the internet for job-seeking information over their in-person networks. Using the Computer and Internet Use Supplement of the Current Population Survey, this paper provides evidence from 2011-2017 to demonstrate the positive income returns experienced by immigrants who go online to seek out job opportunities, and the adverse impacts of relying solely on friends and family. This quantitative analysis lies at the intersection of technology and immigrant integration and provides necessary inroads into updating our theories for how immigrants are integrating into host societies in the 21st century.

Author

• Karina Shklyan, University of California, San Diego