JAPAN GROWING ECONOMIC-ACTIVITIES AND THE ATTAINMENT PATTERNS OF FOREIGN-BORN JAPANESE WORKERS IN THE UNITED-STATES, 1979 TO 1989

This study examines the impact of the economic activities of Japan in the United States on the socioeconomic attainments of foreign-born Jap anese male workers in 1979 and 1989. It demonstrates that working in w holesale trade, finance and manufacturing industries, three major sect ors of Japanese investment in America, provided foreign-born male Japa nese workers with the highest likelihood of assuming managerial positi ons. Moreover, the managerial occupation in turn provided the Japanese workers with the highest earnings returns. This pattern is consistent over time and by length of residence. The results suggest the importa nce of Japan's economic globalization since the 1970s in explaining th e socioeconomic attainment patterns of foreign-born Japanese workers i n the United States.