Migrants, Unemployment and Earnings in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area

Abstract

The unemployment rate climbed to 20 percent in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area in the mid-1990s. Some government officials blamed immigration from neighboring countries as one factor responsible for the increase. This paper fails to find evidence to support such a view. In addition, variation of earnings between the beginning and the peak of the unemployment crisis is considered. Although males of all national origin groups were worse off after the employment bubble burst, the earnings of immigrants from neighboring countries declined the most. The explanation for this finding may rest on the legal status of these immigrants, which could not be tested with the available data.