Economic Integration Of Immigrants Research Articles

Cultural and economic integration of immigrants in Canada: “Do you play Hockey?”

This paper studies whether acculturation by immigrants and other minority groups is associated with economic integration in Canada. We examine immigrants’ participation in winter sports, particularly hockey, as a proxy for acculturation given that these sports are popular in Canada but are rarely watched or practiced in the origin countries of many immigrants to Canada. Using the Canadian Community Health Survey, we find that practicing winter sports has a positive effect on the earnings of immigrants and other minority groups. Specifically, practicing winter sports closes the income gap between immigrants and natives. However, the gap does not decrease for visible-minority immigrants, suggesting that acculturation might not be sufficient to combat racial biases.

Economic achievement of immigrants in Japan: Examining the role of country‐of‐origin and host‐country‐specific human capital in an inflexible labor market

AbstractThe economic integration of immigrants is a salient social issue in Japan. Although the US immigration literature has stressed the importance of host‐country‐specific human capital over country‐of‐origin human capital for immigrants, previous studies in Japan have shown mixed results about the effects of these two types of human capital on the economic integration of immigrants. The mixed results might be because previous studies focused on only specific immigrant groups (with regard to nationalities, cities, and visa status), human capital variables, and dimensions of economic achievements in the Japanese labor market. The segmented nature of the Japanese labor market structure and immigration policies create different pathways to “economic achievements” of immigrants depending on the dimension of “economic achievements” studied. By conducting a nationally representative social survey of Japanese immigrants, we examined the association between the two types of human capital (i.e., country‐of‐origin and host‐country‐specific) and the three indicators of labor market success: employment status and firm size, occupational status, and income. Our results indicate that host‐country‐specific human capital in the form of higher education and language proficiency is important for all three indicators of economic achievement in Japan, while country‐of‐origin human capital in the form of higher education and vocational skills is transferable to some extent. Our results suggest that the significance of human capital in immigrants' economic success is determined not only by the structure of the labor market but also by immigration policies.

Forms of Capital in the Economic Integration of Immigrants in Canada

Forms of Capital in the Economic Integration of Immigrants in Canada

Opening a door to politics? Labour market entrance and political candidacy among refugees

ABSTRACT In this study, we explore whether the economic integration of immigrants may function as a stepping stone to their political integration. We show that there are strong theoretical reasons to expect entrance into the labour market to be pivotal for the political socialisation of immigrants in the new host country and in extension for their opportunities to stand for office. Empirically, we make use of Swedish register data and study whether labour market entrance among refugees affects their chances of being nominated for political office in Swedish municipal councils. We focus on refugees that arrived in Sweden between 1985 and 1994 and explore whether they became political nominees in seven consecutive elections between 1994 and 2014. Our results indicate that getting an early foothold in the labour market has a significant positive effect on the likelihood of running for office. These results hold even when we make use of more exogenous variation in the labour market conditions that refugees encountered when they arrived in Sweden, which provides some support that labour market entrance may have a causal effect on political candidacy among refugees.

Exploring the role of legal status and neighborhood social capital on immigrant economic integration in Los Angeles

Existing research has emphasized immigration policy and social capital as two crucial elements of reception that influence immigrant labor market outcomes. While much attention has been paid to these two factors in isolation, a limited body of empirical wo

Ethnic enclaves and immigrant economic integration

Ethnic enclaves and immigrant economic integration

Immigrant Men’s Economic Adaptation in Changing Labor Markets: Why Gaps between Turkish and German Men Expanded, 1976–2015

How important were manufacturing and heavy industries to the economic integration of twentieth-century immigrants in Western societies? This article examines how macro-social change in Germany since the height of manufacturing has affected the socio-economic integration of male immigrants. We develop an analytical framework to assess how educational expansion among natives, deindustrialization, and the increasing importance of formal qualifications shape male immigrant-native gaps in labor-market outcomes over time. Empirically, we focus on first-generation male Turkish immigrants in Germany and use micro-census data spanning almost 40 years. Through a novel empirical quantification of key theoretical arguments concerning immigrant economic integration, we find growing inter-group differences between the late 1970s and mid-2000s (employment) and mid-2010s (incomes), respectively. The growth of differences between the immigrant and native income distributions was most pronounced in their respective bottom halves. Our analysis shows that these trends are linked to the increased importance of formal educational qualifications for individual labor-market success, to educational expansion in Germany, and to deindustrialization. Employment in Germany shifted away from middling positions in manufacturing, but while natives tended to move into better-paying positions, Turkish immigrants mainly shifted into disadvantaged service jobs. These results provide novel evidence for claims that the economic assimilation of less-skilled immigrants may become structurally harder in increasingly post-industrial societies. We conclude that structural change in host countries is an important, yet often overlooked, driver of immigrant socio-economic integration trajectories.

Which Integration Policies Work? The Heterogeneous Impact of National Institutions on Immigrants’ Labor Market Attainment in Europe

Can specific policies support the economic integration of immigrants? Despite the crucial importance of this question, existing evidence is inconclusive. Using data from the European Social Survey, we estimate the effects of integration and anti-discrimination policies, alongside social expenditure and labor market regulation, on the labor market performance of 6,176 non-European immigrants across 23 European countries. We make three contributions: 1) we investigate the distinct role of discrete policy areas for labor market integration outcomes, 2) we allow for heterogeneous effects of policies on immigrants with different characteristics, and 3) we examine immigrants’ occupational attainment while accounting for their selection into employment. We find that immigrants’ employment chances are negatively associated with national levels of expenditure on welfare benefits but positively associated with policies facilitating immigrant access to social security. We also find that labor market rigidity is negatively associated with immigrants’ occupational attainment, but we find little evidence that policies aimed at supporting the transferability of immigrants’ qualifications promote their occupational success. Our results strongly suggest that anti-discrimination policies are important for immigrant economic integration. Yet while these policies are associated with greater occupational success for all female immigrants, they seem to be only positively associated with the occupational attainment of higher-skilled and non-Muslim immigrant men. As this article suggests, anti-discrimination policies can foster immigrants’ labor market success, yet these policies currently fail to reach those who face the strongest anti-immigrant sentiments — that is, unskilled male immigrants and Muslim immigrant men.

Economic integration among mainland Chinese immigrants during and after the period of Hong Kong's handover: The disparity between higher‐educated and lower‐educated groups

AbstractWe examined mainland Chinese immigrants’ economic integration by looking at the earnings gap between locals and immigrants (both permanent and newly arrived) during and after the period of the Hong Kong handover from 1991 to 2016. During this period, Hong Kong experienced a further process of deindustrialization and an increased connection with mainland China. Using 5% Hong Kong population census/by‐census data (1991‐2016), we found that although mainland Chinese immigrants with college or above education still earned less than their local counterparts throughout the years, the income gap rapidly narrowed and their income levels converged in the more recent period. Meanwhile, the gap for those with high school degrees or below only slightly narrowed over time. Moreover, for those with high school degrees or below, the income gap between the permanent immigrants and the newly arrived ones remained constant over time, while a converging trend was observed among those with college or above degrees. Our findings suggest that immigrant economic integration may be accelerated when the socioeconomic linkage is closer between the origins and destination of migration, although some groups may benefit more than others.

The roles of employers and trade unions in immigration and welfare state policymaking

Whether and under which conditions immigrants should be admitted and obtain access to employment and social security is an issue of continuously high political salience across the advanced democracies. Unions and employers, as traditionally influential actors in immigration and social policymaking, have important roles to play in this area, but their exact preferences, strategies and behaviour are theoretically difficult to determine and are still only partly understood. This article outlines a series of research problems regarding the roles of social partners in the social and economic integration of immigrants and discusses how the articles contained in this special issue address these problems.

Naturalisation and Immigrant Earnings: Why and to Whom Citizenship Matters

The notion that naturalisation matters for the economic integration of immigrants is well established in the literature, but why and to whom that is, remains surprisingly ambiguous. The citizenship premium is traditionally assumed to result from increased labour market access and positive signalling towards employers, but these mechanisms fail to explain increased earnings derived from paid employment, which has been the predominant focus in most studies. We argue that naturalisation needs to be understood in the context of the life course, as immigrants anticipate rewards and opportunities of citizenship acquisition by investing in their human capital development. Insofar as naturalisation subsequently leads to higher earnings, we expect that the citizenship premium mostly reflects better employment opportunities rather than access to better paying jobs. To test these assumptions, we use high-quality register data from Statistics Netherlands, covering the period 1999–2011. These data contain almost all registered foreign-born individuals in The Netherlands (N = 74,531) and allow us to track immigrant cohorts over time. Results show that naturalisation confers a one-time boost in earnings after naturalisation, but particularly for migrants from economically less developed countries and unemployed migrants. Furthermore, earnings develop faster leading up to naturalisation than afterwards, consistent with the notion of anticipation. The relevance of citizenship for employed immigrants in part results from an increase in working hours, but is not explained by variation in labour market sectors. We conclude that citizenship matters in terms of earnings from labour, but that its impact is not universal and manifests predominantly leading up to naturalisation.

Implementing Dynamics of Immigration Integration in Labor Force Participation Projection in EU28

Many developed countries have turned to immigration in order to mitigate the consequences of population aging, particularly the expected decline in the labor force population. Yet, few projection models take in consideration explicitly the differentials in labor force participation of population sub-groups. This paper describes the labor force participation module of CEPAM-Mic, which is a microsimulation model that projects several demographic, ethnocultural, and socioeconomic dimensions of the EU28 member countries population. Then, the microsimulation model is used to project EU labor force population for the period 2015–2060 under different scenarios illustrating how implementing sex- and country-specific dynamics of immigrants’ integration may affect the future labor force in terms of size, rates, and gender composition. We estimated the parameters of the labor force module using logistic regressions based on the EU-Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS). In addition to age, sex, and education, immigrant-related variables are also included, such as immigrant status, place of birth, age at immigration, and duration of residence in the estimation of the probability of being active. Our results demonstrate the importance of taking into account differentials in labor force participation of population sub-groups when asserting the potential of immigration as a tool for managing population aging. In the European context, adding immigration differentials in labor force participation affects mainly downward the number of female immigrants in the labor force, while smaller differences are observed for male immigrants. An increase in immigration levels leads obviously to an increase in the total labor force size, but may also widen gender inequalities in labor force participation and has limited impact on the total labor force participation rate. Our findings suggest that relying on immigration as a tool to alleviate economic issues arising from population aging must imperatively be accompanied by strong and efficient measures to promote a full economic integration of immigrants.

The great recession and precarious wealth among middle-class Mexican-Origin entrepreneurs

ABSTRACT Entrepreneurial activity is perceived to function as a catalyst for economic mobility and wealth creation among immigrant minorities, which in turn facilitates the reproduction of their wealth and businesses from one generation to the next. Yet, the United States Great Recession of 2008 had a devastating impact on the accumulated wealth of Latino entrepreneurs, widening a racial wealth gap that shows little signs of narrowing. This qualitative study investigates the significance of the recession on the wealth of and prospects for entrepreneurial succession among fifty middle-class Mexican-origin business owners in El Paso, Texas, between 2009 and 2012, at the tail of the Great Recession and its aftermath. Findings reveal that business owners conveyed optimism about withstanding the recession and entrepreneurial succession; however, limited wealth belied that optimism, triggering downsizing that weakened the stability and solvency of their businesses. Ultimately, the Great Recession had a negative impact on the wealth accumulation and business performance of middle-class Mexican-origin entrepreneurs, with observed differences by gender. This study challenges traditional assumptions that entrepreneurship is associated with wealth creation and entrepreneurial succession, underscoring the need to consider how structural forces in the economy condition the entrepreneurial outcomes and economic integration of immigrants and their descendants.

The effect of language training on immigrants’ economic integration: Empirical evidence from France

We examine the impact of language training on the economic integration of immigrants in France. The assignment to this training, offered by the French Ministry of the Interior, depends mainly on a precise rule: the training is provided if the test score of an initial language exam is below a certain threshold. This eligibility rule creates a discontinuity in the relation between the test result and the variables of interest, which is used to estimate the causal effect of language training, through the method of Regression Discontinuity Design. We find that the number of assigned hours of training significantly increases labor force participation of the treated individuals. The language classes appear to have a larger effect for individuals with higher levels of education, while there is no robust differential effect by type of migration, gender or age. Our estimated coefficients are remarkably similar when we rely on local linear regressions using the optimal bandwidth with few observations around the threshold and when we control parametrically for a polynomial of the forcing variable and use the whole estimation sample. We conclude with a discussion of the candidate mechanisms for the improved labor market participation of immigrants.

The impact of self-employment on the economic integration of immigrants: Evidence from Germany

Traditional approaches in migration studies suggest that self-employment and entrepreneurial activities enhance the perspectives of economic advancement of immigrants in host countries. Therefore, in many popular destinations in Western Europe and Northern America, policies encouraging the self-employment of immigrants have been proposed. But does the self-employment contribute to the economic integration of immigrants? Is it a universal, one-way avenue that guarantees the successful insertion of foreigners in a new socio-economic environment? Based on the German Socio-Economic Panel dataset, this study empirically investigates the effect of self-employment on the economic integration of immigrants in one of the most important host countries in Europe. Our results demonstrate that the current self-employment status in Germany is associated with higher income in absolute and relative (self-assessment) terms. The immigrants with previous self-employment experience in Germany are less integrated than the average. This result indirectly shows that the business economy of immigrants is associated with a high risk of failure and not all self-employed individuals succeed in advancing in economic terms in a host country. Consequently, we argue that host countries should be more cautious in promoting entrepreneurship as the “perfect” and “universal” strategy that improves economic integration.

Entrepreneurship and economic integration of immigrants: a critical review of literature

Entrepreneurship and economic integration of immigrants: a critical review of literature

Экономическая интеграция иммигрантов через преодоление неравенства в сфере занятости и оплаты труда. Сравнительный анализ британских и французских мусульманских общин

Экономическая интеграция иммигрантов через преодоление неравенства в сфере занятости и оплаты труда. Сравнительный анализ британских и французских мусульманских общин

The Impact of Language on Socioeconomic Integration of Immigrants

This study examines the causal effects of Dutch language proficiency of immigrants from four main source countries on their labour market and social integration outcomes. Language proficiency appears ranked according to linguistic distance to The Netherlands, a ranking that even holds for the gender gap in proficiency. We assess the effect of language proficiency on two objective indicators of integration (employment and income) and two subjective measures (feeling Dutch and feeling integrated). The analysis shows that endogeneity of language skills masks a substantial part of language effects. Once accounted for endogeneity, effects of Dutch language proficiency on social and economic integration of immigrants are more than double the estimates ignoring endogeneity.

The Effect of Language Training on Immigrants' Economic Integration: Empirical Evidence from France

We examine the impact of language training on the economic integration of immigrants in France. The assignment to this training, offered by the French Ministry of the Interior, depends mainly on a precise rule: the training is available when the test score of an initial language exam is below a certain threshold. This eligibility rule creates a discontinuity in the relation between the test result and the variables of interest, which is used to estimate the causal effect of this training, through the method of Regression Discontinuity Design. We find that the number of assigned hours of training significantly increases labor force participation of the treated individuals. The language classes appear to have a larger effect for labor migrants and refugees relative to family migrants, for men and individuals below the median age, and for individuals with higher levels of education. Our estimates suggest that the main channel for the improved labor market participation is the information on job search strategies that immigrants derive from the interaction with their classmates and teachers during classes.

Entrepreneurship and economic integration of immigrants: a critical review of literature

This study provides a critical investigation of the research on immigrant entrepreneurship and economic integration of immigrants. Based on a sample of 44 articles, the paper shows the main theoretical concepts, methodological approaches and findings. The results of the literature review show surprising shortages in the studies on immigrant entrepreneurship as the immigrant's self-employment status is usually perceived as a desired outcome of economic integration. Consequently, some important gaps in the knowledge on immigrant entrepreneurship are identified, and the most urgent directions for further studies are proposed.