Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/34860 
Year of Publication: 
2008
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 3304
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper analyses the net worth and asset portfolios of native- and foreign-born Australian families using HILDA (wave 2) data. Specifically, we estimate a system of asset equations with an adding-up constraint imposed to control for variation in households' total net worth. Our results indicate that after accounting for differences in human capital and income levels, single immigrants have a wealth advantage of almost $185,000 relative to single native-born individuals. Although the wealth gap between mixed and native-born couples is not statistically significant, immigrant-only couples have approximately $150,000 less wealth on average than native-born couples. Relative to equally wealthy native-born couples, immigrant-only couples hold substantially more of their wealth in their homes and less in the form of vehicles and financial assets. Mixed couples, on the other hand, allocate their wealth across assets in the same way as native-born couples.
Subjects: 
Wealth
immigrants
housing
JEL: 
J61
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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