Black Immigration and the Health of Adults: Does Country of Origin Matter?

Tod G. Hamilton, University of Texas at Austin

There is limited research on the health of black immigrants. Recent research suggests that black immigrants from majority black regions of the world have better health than black immigrants from majority white regions of the world. However, these studies suffer from relatively small samples of black immigrants and limited data on the country of origin for black immigrants. Using data on specific country of origin taken from the 2000 Census of Population, the American Community Survey, and the March Current Population Survey, this study analyzes the importance of the racial context of an immigrant’s home country. The analysis in this study finds limited support for this argument. The results suggest that most of the differences in health among black immigrants are explained by health selection or country-specific differences in health production.