Jody Vallejo University of Southern California
Chinese immigrants to the United States and their descendants are a large, growing, and diverse group whose members are following a variety of paths of adaptation. This research asks: what factors account for wealth accumulation patterns for Chinese immigrants, and how can these patterns inform understanding of immigrant adaptation? Chinese immigrants and their descendants are often discussed in terms of their high median levels of achievement, but Chinese Americans vary considerably on education, income, occupation, and labor market mobility. For example, although their median income is high, Chinese Americans are more likely than white natives to live in poverty. Given their size and within-group heterogeneity, this case provides an occasion to study the factors that enhance or impede immigrant adaptation in general. This study will contribute to the immigration literature by providing a detailed within-group study of this important group and by focusing on their wealth (or net worth) accumulation, an important but understudied measure of adaptation. The project has three specific objectives. First, it will provide a detailed portrait of wealth for Chinese immigrants and their children. It will describe wealth ownership for households at all points in the wealth distribution, comparing Chinese Americans with other Americans, other recent immigrants and descendants of immigrants, and other Asians. Second, it will identify unique wealth accumulation trajectories for Chinese immigrants and their American-born children to distinguish patterns of immigrant adaptation. Third, it will assess the degree to which entrepreneurship contributes to wealth accumulation for Chinese immigrants and their children by using respondent-driven sampling (RDS) to construct a portrait of Chinese business networks in Southern California.
Broader Impact This research will contribute to research in many academic disciplines including immigration studies, the sociology of race/ethnicity, Chinese American studies, entrepreneurship, stratification and inequality, and economic sociology. This research has the potential to shed new light on an important and growing segment of U.S. society and to broaden understanding of immigration and adaptation processes and pathways more generally. The research is also likely to have important broader social impacts. This proposed research has the potential to inform discussions on immigration, wealth ownership, and inequality. The investigators anticipate disseminating the findings widely, including to non-academics, through publications in non-academic journals, op-ed pieces, and press releases. In addition, the investigators will involve graduate students in all aspects of the research and will draw on the work in their graduate and undergraduate courses on social stratification, immigration, and economic sociology.
