Puerto Rican Migration: An Assessment of Quantitative Studies

Puerto Rican migration has attracted much empirical research and has been used as an entry point into larger theoretical debates in demography, sociology, anthropology, and economics. Here we review quantitative studies and use the 1990s 5 percent PUMS to assess quantitative studies of Puerto Rican migration. The review suggests: (a) agreement that more educated and highskilled Puerto Ricans have moved to the island; (b) disagreement about the effect of the minimum wage on the island and about the causes and consequences of circular migration; (c) agreement about data limitations for the study of Puerto Rican migration; and (d) disagreement about definitions