TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Chiswick, Barry R.
AU  - Lee, Yew Liang
AU  - Miller, Paul W.
        TI  - Immigrants' Language Skills: The Australian Experience in a Longitudinal Survey
        PY  - 2002/May/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 502
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp502
        AB  - This paper is concerned with the determinants of English language proficiency (speaking,
reading and writing) among immigrants. It presents a model of immigrant destination
language acquisition based on economic incentives, exposure to the destination language,
and efficiency in second language acquisition. A unique data set, the Longitudinal Survey of
Immigrants to Australia, is used to test the model. This survey had three waves, at about 6
months, 18 months and 3½ years after immigration. The analyses are performed by wave,
type of language skill and gender using probit analysis. Bivariate probit analysis is used
across waves. The hypotheses are supported by the data. The bivariate probit analysis
indicates a positive correlation in the unexplained component that declines with time between
waves, indicating a regression to the mean in English language proficiency.
        KW  - immigrants
KW  - language skills
KW  - longitudinal survey
KW  - Australia
        ER  -