Geographic mobility of the foreign-born Chinese in large metropolises, 1985-1990

The spatial assimilation and ethnic resources models, two major theoretical explanations of the adaptation of immigrants, provide different views on t he mechanism of spatial mobility of immigrants. We used the 1990 census 5 p ercent Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) to analyze the migration of forei gn-born Chinese in three large metropolises - New York, Los Angeles, and Sa n Francisco. We tested the two explanations in this study and argue that ou r results largely support the assimilation model. In addition, we contend t hat macroeconomic conditions of ethnic enclaves and characteristics of ethn ic economies are also important in affecting the geographic redistribution of immigrants.