Identifying Rates of Emigration in the United States Using Administrative Earnings Records

Table 1

Immigration by country of origin and data source, 1998.

	Administrative data	Current population survey
	Share (Percent)	Share (Percent)	Rank
Distribution of foreign-born population, by country (Top 10)
Mexico	21.6	28.5	(1)
Philippines	6.0	6.0	(2)
Vietnam	4.0	3.9	(7)
Germany	3.8	1.4	(16)
India	3.7	3.7	(6)
El Salvador	2.9	3.5	(3)
Canada	2.8	2.2	(11)
England	2.7	2.1	(12)
Cuba	2.7	3.1	(4)
South Korea	2.6	1.8	(13)
All others	47.2	42.0	—
Total	100.0	98.3	—
Distribution of foreign-born population by region
Asia	27.2	24.4	(2)
Mexico	21.6	28.5	(1)
Europe	17.7	13.2	(3)
Caribbean	10.6	10.4	(4)
Central America	6.6	7.8	(5)
South America	5.8	6.4	(6)
Middle East	3.9	3.0	(7)
Africa	2.9	2.2	(8)
Canada	2.8	2.2	(9)
Other	0.6	1.2	(10)
Australia region	0.3	0.6	(11)
Total	100.0	100.0	—
Number of observations	170,746	8,008
Number of weighted observations	n.a.	14,889,800

Source. Author's calculations from merged Detailed Earnings Records, Numident, and Master Beneficiary Records data from the Social Security Administration and the 1999 March Current Population Survey.
Note. Percentages for the administrative data are derived from the universe of immigrants aged 16 to 62 with positive earnings in 1998 from the merged DER-Numident-MBR data. Percentages from the March Current Population Survey are derived from person-weighted tabulations of immigrants aged 16 to 62 with positive earnings from the 1999 CPS. The Australia region includes Australia, New Zealand, and several neighboring island groups.