What Moves the Labor Force Participation Rate?

The seasonally adjusted civilian labor force participation rate, the sum of employed and unemployed persons as a percentage of the civilian non-institutional population, is analysed in the general to specific modelling framework with a saturating set of step indicators from January 1977 through June 2018. The results indicate that, ceteris paribus, the rise in the ratio of women to men in the labor force in addition to positive demographic movements can largely account for the rise in the labor force participation rate up to January 2000. Subsequently, the aging population helps to explain the decline. Recessions play a transitory role.

Chicano Return Migration to the Southwest: An Integrated Human Capital Approach

This study uses an integrated human capital framework to examine the relationship between human capital, employment and ethnic factors and return migration to the Southwest among Chicanos. The sample used in the study is derived from the 1980 Public Use Microdata Samples and contains 1,926 Chicano householders between the ages of 25 and 64 who were born in one of five southwest states, lived outside of this region in 1975, and worked in the civilian labor force at any time between 1975 and 1980. The results suggest that various human capital, employment and ethnic composition variables are important predictors of Chicano return migration.

Immigrant Entrepreneurs in 272 SMSAs

Utilizing data collected from the 1980 public-use sample of the U.S. Census, we examine the effect of percentage foreign born in the labor force upon aggregate self-employment rate in 272 SMSAs. Because mean self-employment among the foreign born was higher than among the native born, an increased percentage in the foreign born in a SMSA labor force caused increased aggregate self-employment. Also, as a result of renewed immigration during the 1970s, and the resulting increase in the foreign-born component of the civilian labor force, nonfarm self-employment in the United States increased about 3% above what would have been expected from a comparable “influx” of native-born workers. Depending on which method of estimation one selects, this immigration-prompted increase explains from 16% to 52% of the decade's total increase in nonfarm self-employment, a surprising reversal of nearly 10 decades of uninterrupted decrease. Rate of self-employment among immigrants had no effect upon the rate of or returns to self-employment of native-born workers in general or native blacks in particular.

Urban Economic Growth and Migration: Their Interaction

The objectives of this study are twofold. Firstly, a simultaneous-equations model that takes into account the interaction between various economic aspects of urban growth, and migration to and from urban areas is specified. Secondly, the model is estimated for the 100 largest Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the United States. Among the jointly dependent variables utilized are civilian labor force outmigration, civilian labor force inmigration, income growth, employment growth, unemployment growth, and natural increase of the civilian labor force.