National Development, Capability, and the Segmented Assimilation of Hispanics in Washington, DC

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the possible relationship between conditions of national development, as measured by human development indicators (HDIs), and the segmented assimilation of Hispanics in Washington, DC.

Methodology/approach – To discuss the association between these two variables, I identified five indicators of assimilation discussed in the literature and matched them against the United Nations Development Program's (UNDP) ranking of nations according to their HDI composite index. In addition, I selected eight Hispanic groups’ representatives of the three tiers by which nations are ranked in the Human Development Report published by the UNDP.

Findings – My results show that conditions of national development impact immigrant assimilation, at least in the first generation.

Research limitations/implications – Due to the sample size and the peculiar conditions of Washington, DC, the findings presented require further testing.

Originality/value of paper – Despite these limitations, the findings make a significant contribution to the migration literature by taking into account how stock of knowledge contributes to the different rates of assimilation among immigrants with shared ethnicity.