Chiswick, Barry R. 1983. "The Earnings and Human Capital of American Jews." Journal of Human Resources 18(3):313-336.

This paper analyzes the earnings and returns from human capital investments of second-generation American Jews. Compared with non-Jews, Jewish men have 16 percent higher earnings (other things the same), a 20 percent higher rate of return from schooling, and a steeper experience-earnings profile. These patterns persist even after controlling for occupation, self-employment status, and geographic concentration in the New York area. There are no systematic differences among Jews by parents' country of birth. The findings suggest that American Jews are more productive in creating and using human capital, and that this has encouraged greater investments in human capital.

The author's affiliations are the Department of Economics and Survey Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Chicago.
I appreciate the comments of Carmel U. Chiswick, Evelyn Lehrer, Mark Perlman, Solomon Polachek, the anonymous referees, and the participants of the Applications of Economics Workshop, University of Chicago. The research assistance of Rosemary Rees and Ahmad Seifi is also appreciated.

© 2003 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

US ISSN 0022-166X

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