Cultural Distance as a Determinant of Immigrant Economic Adaptation in the USA

The study investigates economic disparities between immigrants and native populations in receiving societies, going beyond traditional factors like education and work experience. It explores the influence of cultural distance between immigrants’ origin countries and the USA on three socio-economic indicators: income, homeownership, and poverty status. Using measures from Hofstede (2001) and Inglehart and Welzel (2005), the study relies on data from the American Community Survey (2002–2022). Controls include English proficiency, survey year, education, marital status, age, gender, and community disadvantage. Multivariate results consistently highlight the significance of cultural distance as a predictor for income, homeownership, and poverty status among immigrants. These findings remain robust even when accounting for other factors, emphasizing the substantial role of cultural barriers in immigrant economic adaptation beyond differences in human capital, community economic conditions, and other controls.