Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
Migraciones Internacionales e-ISSN: 2594-0279

Papers

Vol. 1 No. 3 (2002): July-December, 2002

When Cumulative Causation Conflicts with Relative Economic Opportunity: Recent Change in the Hispanic Population of the United States

DOI
https://doi.org/10.17428/rmi.v1i3.1282
Published
2017-06-30

Abstract

The theory of cumulative causation, originated by Gunnar Myrdal and elaborated by Douglas Massey, implies that a given migration stream normally increases over time. Nevertheless, both Myrdal and Massey recognized that a process of cumulative causation could not continue indefinitely. To explain how this process might cease, I advance a twoparthypothesis applying to a group with little education or English fluency, such as Hispanic immigrants to the United States, which is thereby eligible to fill only a limited subset of jobs. First, the higher the percentage of Hispanics in a population in a given destination, the lower the relative economic opportunity in that area. Second, the lower the relative economic opportunity in a given area, the lower the subsequent rate of population growth for Hispanic immigrants in that area. The results of the quantitative analysis suggest that relative economic opportunity did have a major influence in counteracting the effects associated with the theory of cumulative causation.RESUMENLa teoría de la causalidad acumulada, creada por Gunnar Myrdal y elaborada por Douglas Massey, sugiere que un flujo migratorio normalmente aumenta con el tiempo. Sin embargo, Myrdal y Massey reconocen que un proceso de causalidad acumulada no puede continuar indefinidamente. Para explicar cómo puede cesar este proceso, se propone una hipótesis compuesta de dos partes, aplicándola a un grupo que tiene un nivel bajo de educación y poco dominio del inglés, como los inmigrantes hispanos en Estados Unidos, que los hace elegibles para ocupar sólo una porción limitada de empleos. En primer lugar, cuanto más alto es el porcentaje de hispanos en la población de un destino determinado, menor es la oportunidad económica relativa en dicha área. En segundo lugar, cuanto menor es la oportunidad económica relativa en un área determinada, menor será el crecimiento subsecuente de la población hispana en esa área. Los resultados del análisis cuantitativo sugieren que la oportunidad económica relativa tiene una influencia importante en contrarrestar los efectos asociados con la teoría de la causalidad acumulada.

Cover image

Keywords

  • international migration
  • labor markets
  • cumulative causation
  • Hispanic
  • United States

How to Cite

Heer, D. M. (2017). When Cumulative Causation Conflicts with Relative Economic Opportunity: Recent Change in the Hispanic Population of the United States. Migraciones Internacionales, 1(3), 32–53. https://doi.org/10.17428/rmi.v1i3.1282
Copyright Notice

References

  1. Bernard, William S., “Immigration: History of U.S. Policy”, in Stephan Thernstrom (ed.), Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1980, pp. 486-495.
  3. California Employment Development Department, “Labor Market Information”, Figure 12, from , accessed October 2, 2002.
  5. Cardoso, Lawrence, Mexican Emigration to the United States 1897-1931, Tucson, University of Arizona Press, 1980.
  7. Cleland, Nancy, and Lee Romney, “Latinos Find Luck in Vegas: Tens of Thousands of Immigrants, Mostly from the Barrios of Los Angeles, Are Discovering That in This Booming Casino Economy, Even a Kitchen Helper Can Lead a Middle-Class Life”, in Los Angeles Times, November 30, 1999.
  9. Escobar Latapí, Agustín, Philip Martin, Paul S. Davies, Gustavo López Castro, and Katherine Donato, “Factors that Influence Migration”, in Migration between Mexico and the United States: Binational Study, Vol. 1. Mexico City and Washington (D. C.), Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, 1998, pp. 163-250.
  11. Handlin, Oscar, The Uprooted: The Epic Story of the Great Migrations that Made the American People, Boston, Little Brown, 1951.
  13. Heer, David M., Victor Agadjanian, Fayez Hammad, Yilan Qiu, and S. Ramasundaram, “A Comparative Analysis of the Position of Undocumented Mexicans in the Los Angeles County Work Force in 1980”, International Migration, 30, 1992, 101-26.
  15. Krissman, Fred, “‘Them’ or ‘Us’: Assessing Responsibility for Undocumented Migration from Mexico,” Unpublished Paper Delivered at Research Seminar of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, University of California, San Diego, December 5, 2001. Available as CCIS Working Paper No. 46 at . MacDonald, John S., and Leatrice D.
  17. MacDonald, “Chain Migration, Ethnic Neighborhood Formation, and Social Networks”, Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly, 52, 1964, 82-97.
  19. Marcelli, Enrico, and David M. Heer, “Unauthorized Mexican Workers in the 1990 Los Angeles County Labour Force”, International Migration, 35, 1997, 59-83.
  21. Massey, Douglas S., “Social Structure, Household Strategies, and the Cumulative Causation of Migration”, Population Index, 56, 1990, 3-26.
  22. ———, “Contemporary Theories of International Migration”, Chapter 2 (pp. 17-59), in Douglas S. Massey, Joaquín Arango, Graeme Hugo, Ali Kouaouci, Adela Pellegrino, and J. Edward Taylor (eds.), Worlds in Motion: Understanding International Migration at the End of the Millennium, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1998.
  24. Massey, Douglas S., Rafael Alarcón, Jorge Durand, and Humberto González, Return to Aztlan: The Social Process of International Migration from Western Mexico, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1987.
  26. Massey, Douglas S., Joaquín Arango, Graeme Hugo, Ali Kouaouci, Adela Pellegrino, and J. Edward Taylor, “Theories of International Migration: A Review and Appraisal”, Population and Development Review, 19, 1993, 431-466.
  28. Mattei, P. Ruby, “Economics I: Pull Factors”, in James Ciment (ed.), Encyclopedia of American Immigration, Vol. I, Armonk (New York), M. E. Sharpe, 2001, pp. 257-264.
  30. McDonnell, Patrick J., “State’s Allure for Immigrants Wanes”, in Los Angeles Times, January 24, 2001.
  32. Merrick, Amy, “Tyson Foods, Six Executives Are Indicted for Alleged Hiring of Illegal Immigrants”, in Wall Street Journal, December 20, 2001.
  34. Myrdal, Gunnar, An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy, New York, Harper, 1944.
  36. ———, “The Principle of Circular and Cumulative Causation”, in Gunnar Myrdal, Rich Lands and Poor: The Road to World Prosperity, New York, Harper, 1957, Chapter 2, pp. 11-22.
  38. Rubin, Morton, “Migration Patterns of Negroes from a Rural Northeastern Mississippi Community”, Social Forces, 39, 1960, 59-66.
  40. Sassen, Saskia, “Economics II: Push Factors”, in James Ciment (ed.), Encyclopedia of American Immigration, Vol. I, Armonk (New York), M. E. Sharpe, 2001, pp. 265-76.
  42. Steadman, Tom, “A Changing Town”, Greensboro News and Record, April 16, 2000.
  44. United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Consumer Price Index All- Urban Consumers”, from , accessed October 2, 2002.
  46. United States Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2001, Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 2001.
  48. United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, Statistical Yearbook of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1998, Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1998
  50. Weisberg, Lori, and Leonel Sánchez, “County’s Foreign-Born Population Surges 41%”, in San Diego Union-Tribune, May 15, 2002.