Moving On and Moving Up: Interstate Migration in the Process of Immigrant Assimilation.

The regional diffusion of the foreign-born population, in combination with thedecentralization of metropolitan areas have increased the relevance of a detailedunderstanding of the impact of interstate migration for immigrants. In this paper, Ipropose and test an interstate version of the spatial assimilation model using mergedlongitudinal data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation, 1996-2000 and2001-2003. The results indicate that immigrants benefit, both in terms of employmentand earnings, from making interstate moves. Consistent with the spatial assimilationmodel, immigrants who have made investments in human capital and acculturationbenefit additionally from making moves to states with smaller immigrant populations. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]