Intermarriage and the Labor Market Outcomes of Asian Women

Intermarriage with natives does not have a homogeneous impact on labor market outcomes across ethnic groups. Asian women are compared with non-Asians. Both ordinary least squares and instrumental variables estimates of the intermarriage returns on wages of Asian women are negative and significant. Non-Asian women earn a wage premium which becomes insignificant once selection into marriage is controlled for. One possible explanation for the intermarriage penalty for Asians is an income effect of having a high-earning native husband. Intermarriage penalties rise with husband's education. Assimilation patterns of intermarried Asians indicate that they have lower initial wages, market hours and employment, but exhibit faster rates of growth over their years of stay. Results are robust to across Asian sub-groups and husband's ethnicity