Abstract
This study examined the asset ownership of Asian immigrants using a nationally representative sample of newly legalized immigrants (New Immigrant Survey). Findings revealed that ownership of a business or farm, financial assets, and home ownership were associated with socioeconomic, demographic, and acculturation variables. Family income, education, English fluency, and length of stay were significant in all types of asset ownership. Variances in asset ownership by ethnic groups exist. Asian Indians and Koreans had higher levels of business asset ownership. Korean, and Filipino immigrants were also more likely to be homeowners. Asian Indian and Chinese immigrants were more likely to own financial assets. Vietnamese lagged in business or farm and financial asset ownership. Findings provided insights into the investment decisions of new Asian immigrants for financial educators, researchers, and policymakers.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beine, M., Docquier, F., & Rapoport, H. (2007). Measuring international skilled migration: A new database controlling for age of entry. The World Bank Economic Review, 21(2), 249–254.
Borjas, G. J. (2002). Homeownership in the immigrant population. Journal of Urban Economics, 52(3), 448–476.
U.S. Census Bureau (2007). The American Community–Asians: 2004. American Community Survey Reports. Retrieved September 22, 2007, from http://www.census.gov/prod/2007pubs/acs-07.pdf.
U. S. Census Bureau (2010). Asian/Pacific American heritage month: May 2010. Retrieved May 12, 2010 from http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb10-ff07.html.
Chatterjee, S., & Kim, J. (2011). Asset ownership of recent immigrants: An examination of nativity and socioeconomic factors. Migration Letters, 8(2), 141–152.
Chatterjee, S., & Zahirovic-Herbert, V. (2011). Home ownership and housing equity: An examination of native-immigrant differences in housing wealth. International Advances in Economic Research, 17(2), 211–223.
Cobb-Clark, D. A., & Hildebrand, V. A. (2006). The wealth and asset holdings of US-born and foreign-born households: Evidence from SIPP data. Review of Income and Wealth, 52(1), 17–42.
Cobb-Clark, D. A., & Kossoudji, S. A. (1999). Did legalization matter for women? Amnesty and the wage determinants of formerly unauthorized Latina workers. Gender Issues, 17(4), 3–14.
Dymski, G., Mohanty, L., & Li, W. (2006). Banking & wealth accumulation in the Asian American community. In J. G. Nembhard & N. Chiteji (Eds.), Wealth accumulation and communities of color in the United States: Current issues (pp. 219–240). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Finke, M. S., & Huston, S. J. (2003). The brighter side of financial risk: Financial risk tolerance and wealth. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 24(3), 233–256.
Fontes, A. (2011). Differences in the likelihood of ownership of retirement saving assets by the foreign and native-born. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 32(4), 612–624.
Hao, L. (2001). Immigrants and wealth stratification in the U.S. Joint Center for Poverty Research Working Paper, 216, 1–10.
Hao, L. (2003). Immigration and wealth inequality in the US. Russel Sage Foundation Working Papers. Retrieved April 1, 2003 from http://www.russellsage.org/sites/all/files/u4/Hao_Immigration%20%26%20Wealth%20Inequality%20in%20the%20US.pdf.
Hofstede, G., & Bond, M. H. (1988). The Confucius connection: From cultural roots to economic growth. Organizational Dynamics, 16(4), 5–21.
Jain, A. K., & Joy, A. (1997). Money matters: An exploratory study of the socio-cultural context of consumption, saving, and investment patterns. Journal of Economic Psychology, 18(6), 649–675.
Jasso, G., Massey, D. S., Rosenzweig, M. R., & Smith, J. P. (2006). The new immigrant survey 2003 round 1 (NIS-2003-1) public release data. Retrieved March 26, 2006 from http://nis.princeton.edu/data.html.
Johnson, P. J. (2003). Financial responsibility for the family: The case of Southeast Asian refugees in Canada. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 24(2), 121–142.
Keister, L. A. (2000). Race and wealth inequality: The impact of racial differences in asset ownership on the distribution of household wealth. Social Science Research, 29(4), 477–502.
Kwon, H. K., Zuiker, V. S., & Bauer, J. W. (2004). Factors associated with the poverty status of Asian immigrant householders by citizenship status. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 25(1), 101–120.
Le, C. N. (2012). Population statistics & demographics. Asian-Nation: The Landscape of Asian America. Retrieved March 6, 2012 from http://www.asian-nation.org/population.shtml.
Ong, P., & Liu, J. M. (1994). US immigration policies and Asian migration. In P. Ong, E. Bonacich, & L. Cheng (Eds.), The New Asian immigration in Los Angeles and global restructuring (pp. 45–73). Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Osili, U. O., & Paulson, A. L. (2008). Institutions and financial development: Evidence from international migrants in the United States. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 90(3), 498–517.
Paulson, A. L., Singer, A., Newberger, R., & Smith, J. (2006). Financial access for immigrants: Lessons from diverse perspectives. Report for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the Brookings Institution, p. 151.
Reeves, T., & Bennett, C. (2003). The Asian and Pacific Islander population in the United States: March 2002. In Current Population Reports (pp. P20–540). Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.
Rhine, S. L. W., & Greene, W. H. (2006). The determinants of being unbanked for US immigrants. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 40(1), 21–40.
Sakamoto, A., Goyette, K. A., & Kim, C. H. (2009). Socioeconomic attainments of Asian Americans. Annual Review of Sociology, 35, 255–276.
Segal, E. A., Kilty, K. M., & Kim, R. Y. (2002). Social and economic inequality and Asian Americans in the United States. Journal of Poverty, 6(4), 5–21.
Sharpe, D. L., & Abdel-Ghany, M. (2006). Determinants of income differentials: Comparing Asians with Whites and Blacks. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 27(4), 588–600.
Waters, M. C., & Eschbach, K. (1995). Immigration and ethnic and racial inequality in the United States. Annual Review of Sociology, 21, 419–446.
Wong, M. G., & Hirschman, C. (1983). The new Asian immigrants. In William. C. McCready (Ed.), Culture, ethnicity, and identity: Current issues in research. New York: Academic Press.
Xie, Y., & Goyette, K. (2003). Social mobility and the educational choices of Asian Americans. Social Science Research, 32(3), 467–498.
Zeng, Z., & Xie, Y. (2004). Asian–Americans’ earnings disadvantage reexamined: The role of place of education. American Journal of Sociology, 109(5), 1075–1108.
Zhou, M., & Kim, R. (2003). The tale of two metropolis. In D. Halle (Ed.), New York and Los Angeles: Politics, society and culture: A comparative view (pp. 124–149). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Zonta, M. (2004). The role of ethnic banks in the residential patterns of Asian Americans: The case of Los Angeles. PhD dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kim, J., Chatterjee, S. & Cho, S.H. Asset Ownership of New Asian Immigrants in the United States. J Fam Econ Iss 33, 215–226 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-012-9317-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-012-9317-0