Introduction: Perspectives on Cultural Integration of Immigrants

This introduction, building on the recent economics of cultural transmission, introduces the main conceptual issues which are of relevance to the study of the cultural integration patterns of immigrants and of their interaction with market and non-market outcomes. More specifically, this chapter briefly discusses the different theories of cultural integration developed in the social sciences. This chapter documents in more detail the economic approach to the study of cultural integration and discuss the consequences of cultural integration in terms of its socio-economic impact on host countries.