The earnings of foreign-born adult white men, as reported in the 1970 Census of Population, are analyzed through comparisons with the native born and among the foreign born by country of origin, years in the United States, and citizenship. Differences in the effects of schooling and postschool training are explored. Although immigrants initially earn less than the native born, their earnings rise more rapidly with U.S. labor market experience, and after 10 to 15 years their earnings equal, and then exceed, that of the native born. Earnings are unrelated to whether the foreign born are U.S. citizens.

The earnings of foreign-born adult white men, as reported in the 1970 Census of Population, are analyzed through comparisons with the native born and among the foreign born by country of origin, years in the United States, and citizenship. Differences in the effects of schooling and postschool training are explored. Although immigrants initially earn less than the native born, their earnings rise more rapidly with U.S. labor market experience, and after 10 to 15 years their earnings equal, and then exceed, that of the native born. Earnings are unrelated to whether the foreign born are U.S. citizens.

This paper tests for racial discrimination by white and nonwhite male workers using the states as the unit of observation. It is shown theoretically that white (nonwhite) employee discrimination creates a component of white (nonwhite) earnings inequality within skill levels which is higher, the higher the fraction of nonwhites in the labor force. The "job-rationing" hypothesis predicts a negative (positive) partial effect of percentage nonwhite on white (nonwhite) earnings inequality. Other discrimination hypotheses offer no prediction. Empirically, the effect of percentage nonwhite on earnings inequality is positive and significant for whites, but not significant for whites.