Language Proficiency and Subjective Well-being: Evidence from Immigrants in Australia
- 주제(키워드) Immigrant , Instrumental variable , Language proficiency , Mental health , Physical health , Social capital , Subjective well-being
- 등재 SSCI, SCOPUS
- 발행기관 Springer Science and Business Media B.V.
- 발행년도 2022
- 총서유형 Journal
- URI http://www.dcollection.net/handler/ewha/000000193200
- 본문언어 영어
- Published As https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-021-00474-2
초록/요약
This study examines the relationship between language proficiency and subjective well-being among the first-generation immigrants in Australia. To address endogeneity-related concerns, we use the age at arrival and country of origin as an instrument for English proficiency. Our results show that greater proficiency in English significantly improves self-reported mental health and life satisfaction. These impacts are pronounced among subgroups of males, highly educated individuals, and older immigrants who have lived in Australia for over 30 years. Our mediation analysis suggests that physical health is one of the most important channels through which immigrants’ destination-language acquisition affects their subjective well-being. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.
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