This study examines the impact of the economic activities of Japan in the United States on the socioeconomic attainments of foreign-born Japanese male workers in 1979 and 1989. It demonstrates that working in wholesale trade, finance and manufacturing industries, three major sectors of Japanese investment in America, provided foreign-born male Japanese workers with the highest likelihood of assuming managerial positions. Moreover, the managerial occupation in turn provided the Japanese workers with the highest earnings returns. This pattern is consistent over time and by length of residence. The results suggest the importance of Japan's economic globalization since the 1970s in explaining the socioeconomic attainment patterns of foreign-born Japanese workers in the United States.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AmanoM.1966A Study of Employment Patterns and a Measurement of Employee Attitudes in Japanese Firms at Los Angeles. Ph.D. Dissertation. Business Administration. University of California, Los Angeles.
2.
BellD. A.1985 “The Triumph of Asian-Americans,” The New Republic July 15 and 22.
3.
BonacichE. and ModellJ.1980The Economic Basis of Ethnic Solidarity Small Business in the Japanese American Community.Berkeley; University of California Press.
4.
BoydM.1974 “The Changing Nature of Central and Southeast Asian Immigration to the United States: 1961–1972,” International Migration Review, 8:507–519.
5.
ChanS.1986This Bitter-Sweet Soil: The Chinese in California Agriculture, 1860–1910.University of California Press.
6.
ChiswickB.1977 “Sons of Immigrants: Are They at an Earnings Disadvantage?” American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, 67: 376–380.
7.
DanielsR.1988Asian America: Chinese and Japanese in the United States since 1850.Seattle and London: University of Washington Press.
8.
GardnerR. W.1985 “Asian Americans: Growth, Change, and Diversity,” Population Bulletin, 40(4). October.
9.
HirschmanC. and WongM. G.1984 “Socioeconomic Gains of Asian Americans, Blacks, and Hispanics: 1960–1976,” American Journal of Sociology, 90:584–607.
10.
HirschmanC. and WongM. G.1981 “Trends in Socioeconomic Achievement among Immigrant and Native-Born Asian-Americans, 1960–1976,” The Sociological Quarterly, 22:495–513.
11.
JiobuR. M.1988a “Ethnic Hegemony and the Japanese of California,” American Sociological Review, 53:353–367.
12.
JiobuR. M.1988b Ethnicity and Assimilation.Albany: State University of New York Press.
13.
JohnsonR. T.1977 “Success and Failure of Japanese Subsidiaries in America,” Columbia Journal of World Business, 30–37. Spring.
14.
KeelyC. B.1971 “Effects of the Immigration Act of 1965 on Selected Population Characteristics of Immigrants to the United States,” Demography, 8:157–169.
15.
KimI.1986 “Asian Americans and the American Economic Order.” In Dictionary of Asian American History. Ed. KimHyung-Chan. New York; Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
16.
KimI.1981New Urban Immigrants: The Korean Community in New York.Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
17.
LaiD. C.1988Chinatowns: Towns within Cities in Canada.Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.
18.
LightI. H.1972Ethnic Enterprise in America: Business and Welfare among Chinese, Japanese, and Blacks.Berkeley: University of California Press.
19.
LinJ. H.1991Capital and Community in Urban Change: Chinatown, New York City. Dissertation. New School for Social Research.
20.
LincolnJ. R.1978 “Cultural Effects on Organizational Structure: The Case of Japanese Firms in the United States,” American Sociological Review, 43:829–847.
21.
LymanS.1977The Asian in North America.Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio.
22.
MartinW. T. and PostonD. L.1977 “Differentials in the Ability to Convert Education into Income: The Case of the European Ethnics,” International Migration Review, 11:215–231.
23.
MartinelliP.C. and NagasawaR.1987 “A Further Test of The Model Minority Thesis, Japanese Americans in a Sunbelt State,” Sociological Perspectives, 30(3):266–288.
24.
MilkmanR.1991Japan's California Factories: Labor Relations and Economic Globalization. Monograph and Research Series 55. Los Angeles: Institute of Industrial Relations, University of California.
25.
NeeV. and SandersJ.1985 “The Road to Parity: Determinants of the Socioeconomic Achievements of Asian Americans,” Ethnic and Racial Studies, 8:75–93.
26.
NeeV. and WongH. Y.1985 “Asian American Socioeconomic Achievement: The Strength of the Family Bond,” Sociological Perspectives, 28(3):281–306.
27.
OmensA. E.1987 “Intercultural Perceptions in United States Subsidiaries of Japanese Companies,” International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 11:249–264.
28.
PetersenW.1971Japanese Americans: Oppression and Success.New York: Random House.
29.
PostonD. L.1988 “The Socioeconomic Attainment Patterns of Asian Americans,” Journal of Sociology, 19:213–234.
30.
RiceD. S.1986Cultural Conflicts: The Dilemma of Japanese Managers in America. Ph.D. Dissertation. University of California, Irvine.
31.
SandersJ. M. and NeeV.1987 “Limits of Ethnic Solidarity in the Enclave Economy,” American Sociological Review, 52:745–773.
32.
SassenS.1988The Mobility of Labor and Capital: A Study in International Investment and Labor Flow.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
33.
SchwartzA. J.1971 “The Culturally Advantaged: A Study of Japanese-American Pupils,” Sociology and Social Research, 55:341–352.
34.
TiendaM.1983 “Nationality and Income Attainment among Native and Immigrant Hispanic Men in the United States,” Sociological Quarterly, 24:253–272.
35.
TsukashimaR. T.1991 “Cultural Endowment, Disadvantaged Status and Economic Niche: The Development of an Ethnic Trade,” International Migration Review, 25(2):333–354.
36.
U.S. Bureau of the Census1990Census of Population and Housing, 1990: Public Use Microdata Sample A.Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
37.
U.S. Bureau of the Census1980Census of Population and Housing, 1980: Public Use Microdata Sample A.Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
38.
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights1988The Economic Status of Americans of Asian Descent: An Exploratory Investigation. Clearinghouse Publication 95. October.
39.
U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis1992Foreign Direct Investment in the United States: Establishment Data for 1987. June.
40.
U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis1990Foreign Direct Investment in the United States: Balance of Payments and Direct Investment Position Estimates, 1980–86. December.
41.
U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis1985Foreign Direct Investment in the United States, Operations of U.S. Affiliates, 1977–80. December.
42.
U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis1984Selected Data on Foreign Direct Investment in the United States, 1950–79. December.
43.
WongM. G.1986 “Post-1965 Asian Immigrants: Where Do They Come From, Where Are They Now, and Where Are They Going?” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, 487:150–168.
44.
WongM. G.1982 “The Cost of Being Chinese, Japanese, Filipino in the United States, 1960, 1970, 1976,” Pacific Sociological Review, 25:59–79.
45.
WongM. G.1980 “Changes in Socioeconomic Status of the Chinese Male Population in the United States from 1960 to 1970,” International Migration Review, 14:511–524.
46.
WongM. G. and HirschmanC.1983 “Labor Force Participation and Socioeconomic Attainment of Asian-American Women,” Sociological Perspectives, 26:423–446.
47.
YokoyamaY.1989Social Adjustment Issues among Japanese Wives of Businessmen and Visiting Scholars in the Seattle Area. Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Washington.
48.
YoonI. J.1993 “The Growth of Korean Immigrant Entrepreneurship and Korean-Black Conflicts in Chicago.” Paper presented at the National Conference of Association for Asian American Studies, Ithaca, New York.
49.
ZhouM.1992Chinatown: The Socioeconomic Potential of an Urban Enclave.Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
