COMPARATIVE-ANALYSIS OF US URBAN LABOR-MARKETS - ASIAN IMMIGRANT GROUPS IN NEW-YORK AND LOS-ANGELES

This article develops a disaggregate and comparative approach to discern the role of immigrants in urban economies. We disaggregate Asians into four dominant subgroups, and we disaggregate gross industrial employment categories into an industrial-occupational matrix. Using a relative measure of employment, we compare industrial-occupational niches for each Asian group in two similar urban contexts, Los Angeles and New York. Empirical findings indicate that neither the supply-side nor demand-driven perspectives on immigrants' role in urban economies sufficiently explains the complex patterns we identified. Our results suggest that the neoclassical vision of immigrants - filling particular niches for which they ''fit'', by virtue of qualifications or corporate need - overlooks the possibility that immigrants may work to create their own niche or competitive advantage through managing or manipulating the system. This possibility must be explored through interviews. We suggest that interview procedures be preceded by the type of analysis conducted here, so that specific, targeted questions can be developed for the field.