Access To Labour Market Research Articles

Downplaying difference: how ethnoracial minorities strive for labour market access in an egalitarian context

ABSTRACT This article explores the type of destigmatisation strategies minorities use to access employment in Norway, a country characterised by ambiguous egalitarianism, a rapidly changing demographic, and a public “silence about race”. Analysing 52 interviews with minority Norwegians about their job search behaviour, we found that they hide or downplay minority-specific cues in their resumes to avoid immigrant stereotypes and to signal Norwegianness. Non-white informants also engage in detailed management of their phenotypical appearance through photographs but seldom frame their strategies as responses to racial stereotypes. These findings suggest that Norwegian minorities respond to a clearly defined hierarchy of national belonging related to immigrant status, which includes an unarticulated racial component. Drawing on comparative scholarship on destigmatisation, we argue that minorities’ job search strategies are shaped by broader sociocultural factors and highlight the importance of conducting studies of this kind in national contexts that lack a language for addressing racial differences.

Perceived loneliness: Why are Syrian refugees more lonely than other newly arrived migrants in Germany?

Migration often impacts the mental and emotional health of those needing to move from their home countries. Studies have focused on migrants’ levels of distress or well-being, and recent research looks at older migrants’ experience with loneliness. What has yet to be researched is how different migrant groups experience loneliness, and how these feelings are affected by the contexts of leaving one country and reception in another. Drawing on the theoretical framework of integration, this article asks whether newly arrived refugees in Germany differ in their perception of loneliness from other newly arrived migrants. It examines these perceptions as related to social contacts and the context—and interplay—of exit and reception. Using OLS regressions with data from the Recent Immigration Processes and Early Integration Trajectories in Germany (ENTRA) project, we find that Syrian refugees have higher levels of loneliness than migrant groups from Poland, Italy, and Turkey. The difference is largely attributable to Syrians not having local German contacts, surviving traumatic experiences at home, and migrating specifically for physical safety. We also find that discrimination and not being in the labor force are determinants of loneliness across all four groups, and that even when considering migrant origins and other effects, having local social contacts lowers levels of loneliness. Our results point to migration policies, such as those related to family reunification and labor market access, for producing inequalities in loneliness between Syrian refugees and other migrants in Germany.

Motherhood Penalty and Labour Market Integration of Immigrant Women: A Review on Evidence from Four OECD Countries

Among several reasons preventing the effective labour market integration of immigrant women, the motherhood penalty and unpaid care responsibilities stand out prominently. In line with this, the present scoping review shows how motherhood affects the labour market integration of immigrant women in Australia, Canada, the UK, and the USA. This review shows that parenthood exacerbates the gender pay gap and limits labour market access, favouring men with children over immigrant mothers. Moreover, the effect of the motherhood penalty might be moderated by the level of education, age of the children, and the country of origin/ethnicity of immigrants. In the four countries examined, labour market outcomes for immigrant women are particularly poor. Factors contributing to this include limited language proficiency, traditional gender norms that restrict the full-time employment of certain groups of immigrant women, and institutional barriers like work-permit processing delays. To address these challenges, Australia, Canada, the UK, and the USA have implemented various policies facilitating immigrant mothers’ workforce participation. These measures include language and legal-system education, subsidised childcare, and integration programmes for both mothers and children. Additionally, some programmes in Canada and the USA provide employment assistance and financial support for childcare, while Australia and the UK offer comprehensive integration and settlement services.

Functional Diversity and Access to the World of Work in Young People: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review

Youth access to the labor market is challenging, especially for those with functional diversity. Our objective is to analyze their labor market access over time, considering various moderating variables. A meta-analysis methodology was developed, following PRISMA and Higgins principles, with data from Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science. A random-effects model was employed, showing a moderate effect size (r = 0.25, p < 0.00). The sample included 10 studies with 39 samples (138,586 people) and high heterogeneity. Mental disorders posed greater challenges compared to physical difficulties. Protective variables were identified, highlighting the need for more focus on mental health.

Regulation of temporary agency work and the modern labor market: a case study of Slovenia

Temporary Agency Work (TAW) is a unique employment model involving a three-way relationship between a posted worker, an employment agency, and a client organization, enabling clients to adjust their labour force in response to fluctuating demands, but also raising concerns about job precariousness. Achieving a balance between flexibility and employment and social security is crucial for integrating TAW effectively into the labour market.TAW arrangements within the labour markets of the EU are confronted by specific contemporary dynamics, including fluctuations and seasonality of labour demands, labour scarcity in some professions and labour migration. Building on a case study of the TAW legislation development in Slovenia, this study aimed to elucidate the repercussions of these challenges on the regulatory landscape of TAW, potentially illuminating the prospective evolution of labour law standards throughout the EU.Despite the inherent limitations of case studies, the findings suggest that a detailed legal framework providing strong rights for posted workers and controlled flexibility for clients can be operational in addressing particular labour market challenges. TAW has the potential for further growth, particularly in supporting groups with limited labour market access and in filling professional gaps, by facilitating the integration of foreign workers.

‘With a little help from my educated friends’: revisiting the role of social capital for immigrants’ labour market integration in Germany

This article examines the link between immigrants’ social capital and their labour market access (employment) and success (occupational status) in Germany and contributes to previous research in two ways. Firstly, based on insights from theories of social capital and immigrant integration, we overcome the mere distinction between inter- and intra-ethnic ties. Instead, we approximate resources immigrants can access and mobilize by considering both the ethnic and socioeconomic compositions of their networks. Secondly, by using autoregressive cross-lagged panel models, we properly deal with the methodological challenge of endogeneity inherent to studies concerned with the relationship between social capital and labour market outcomes. Based on longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel the empirical findings indicate the necessity of considering both the ethnic and socioeconomic compositions of immigrants’ networks—as both have independent effects on immigrants’ labour market integration. We conclude that future research on the relationship between immigrants’ social capital and their economic integration may benefit from approximating resources available through social contacts by considering not only the ethnic dimension but also the socioeconomic dimension of contacts.

Sloboda kretanja radnika i Otvoreni Balkan

The concept of Open Balkan emerged four years ago among high-ranking officials of Balkan countries, driven by the aspiration for increased cooperation in economic and other vital areas. The collaboration between Serbia, North Macedonia, and Albania aims to tackle socio-economic challenges, fostering regional cooperation for better state integration and the joint use of resources to combat unemployment and economic issues. This initiative has led to various agreements and acts forming the legal framework, mirroring the European Union’s values of unrestricted movement of people, goods, capital, and services. Key areas include establishing a single market, recognizing diplomas and qualifications, introducing administrative benefits in employment, and streamlining work permits. Facilitating free labor market access reduces emigration and aligns labor supply and demand across sectors. The construction of a unified labor market involves implementing an electronic system for identifying and applying for freelance jobs within the regional Union, serving as a potent tool for migration control and addressing labor shortages in specific professions.

Unveiling the drivers of Africa's digital financial inclusion journey

AbstractThis study aimed to unveil the evolving landscape of digital financial inclusion in African countries during the post‐COVID‐19 era. We examined factors influencing the access and usage of digital financial services and identified population segments facing increased exclusion due to the digital divide. First, by applying principal component analysis to data collected at the country level from 39 African countries in 2014, 2017, and 2022, we developed a digital financial inclusion index. Second, the empirical research utilized a microlevel dataset of 29,042 adults from 29 countries, sourced from the World Bank's Global Findex 2021 database, employing the instrumental variable probit methodology. Comparative analysis showed improvements in digital financial inclusion rankings for Kenya, Lesotho, and Botswana, while Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, and Niger experienced declines, indicating limited access. Our empirical findings suggest that certain groups, such as women and individuals with limited education and lower incomes, encounter obstacles in accessing digital financial services. Factors such as education level, labor market participation and access to technology and internet infrastructure emerged as crucial in promoting digital financial inclusion. Our sample's representative nature enhances the study's practical implications, guiding public policies and international institutions to accelerate digital financial inclusion in Africa.

Policy preferences in response to large forced migration inflows

What migration policies do people in receiving countries prefer, and to what extent do humanitarian concerns matter for these preferences? Despite sustained scholarly attention to migration attitudes in high-income countries, much less work examines public policy preferences—particularly in low- and middle-income countries that receive most forced migrants globally. While legislators can propose and implement migration policies involving multiple domains that differ in restrictiveness, their choices partly rely on public support that may vary depending on the policy area at stake. This makes understanding preferences for realistic migration policies in a multidimensional manner theoretically and empirically important. In response, we conducted a pre-registered conjoint experiment (N = 2,508) fielded in Colombia, the country that has received the largest share of Venezuelan emigrants who themselves currently comprise one of the world’s largest migratory flows. Colombians prefer more open policy options that place either some or no restrictions on Venezuelan migrants’ labor market access, ability to bring family members, access to public healthcare, or freedom to choose where they live within Colombia. However, there is support for restrictions on the overall number of Venezuelans allowed to settle in the country, as well as the length of time that Venezuelans are allowed to stay in Colombia. Moreover, respondents holding higher levels of humanitarianism prefer less restrictive policies towards Venezuelans relative to those holding stronger economic and material values—particularly in domains addressing core needs of health, family reunification, and employment. Our study contributes novel and timely evidence of multidimensional migration policy preferences from a highly-impacted case, while also showing how altruistic values relating to humanitarianism selectively matter for these preferences.

Active labour market policies response to Ukrainian citizens entering the European Union’s labour market

The article contains a thorough analysis of the European active labour market policies in the face of the influx of Ukrainians following the outbreak of the Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine. An overview of the temporary protection regulations for Ukrainians adopted by the EU states made it possible to determine the conditions of legal residence and labour market access. Statistical data and surveys conducted by international institutions became the basis for identification the Ukrainian refugee’s profile on the EU labour market. Thus, the vast majority of Ukrainian citizens staying in EU states are women with higher-than-average educational level; good or high proficiency in English; who used to work before the war with a non-negligible share in the health and education sectors; and who often work below their qualification. In addition, an analytical comparison was undertaken to highlight the image of migrants who came to Poland before February 24, 2022 and that of war refugees who have arrived following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. Acceptance of Ukrainians by Poles, remarkable similarities between countries in terms of culture, favourable access to the labour market and healthcare are of the utmost significance for both economic migrants and war refugees.

Social origin and expectation of postgraduate enrolment among spanish university undergraduates mediation and moderation effect of fields of study and grades

The effect of social origin on educational expectations has mostly focused on adolescents. Yet, the expansion of higher education across the OECD area has made the transition from bachelor to master programs increasingly consequential for inequality of educational opportunities and social mobility. Applying multinomial logistic regression to data from a survey carried out in 2018 among university students in three Spanish regions, our research reveals the existence of a still meaningful effect of socioeconomic origin on expectations of postgraduate enrolment among university undergraduates, even after controlling for academic progression, performance and choice of field of study. In other words, the analysis provides evidence of a secondary effect of social origin on educational expectations at this late stage of the educational career. Multinomial logistic regression and the Karlson-Holm-Breen method applied to the same data also reveal the inexistence of a mediation effect of field of studies or academic performance. In this sense, our evidence points at a clearly higher weight of the secondary effect, rather than the primary effect of social origin, on the transmission of educational advantage to expectations of postgraduate enrolment among undergraduates. Yet, a moderating effect of both fields of studies and academic performance does exist. As regards field of studies, against our initial expectation, the effect of social origin turns out to be stronger in some fields of studies with better labour market access (strong fields). Regarding academic performance, the sensitiveness of postgraduate enrolment expectation to grades obtained so far decreases with social origin, thus revealing a lingering compensatory effect of social origin at the end of the educational trajectory.

THE AVAILABILITY OF FINANCIAL SOURCES TO SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES FROM NON-BANKING INSTITUTIONS IN THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA

This paper examines the challenges and perspectives of SMEs in North Macedonia. The study was conducted through a survey for small and medium-sized enterprises in the country, which revealed significant challenges in access to finance, skilled labor, high taxes, administrative burdens, and limited market access. These challenges hinder the growth and development of SMEs, thereby affecting their contribution to the country's economy. Despite the challenges, small and medium-sized enterprises in North Macedonia represent a significant potential for growth and development, which is seen in their contribution to GDP and the country's employment. To address the challenges faced by SMEs, the government and other stakeholders must prioritize measures that reduce the tax burden on SMEs, simplify administrative procedures, provide export subsidies, invest in transport infrastructure, and explore alternative financing options. Investing in education and training programs tailored to the needs of SMEs will help address the skills gap and increase productivity. The study recommends that the government use opportunities such as the country's strategic location to attract foreign investment, promote trade and create favorable conditions for small and medium enterprises. Small and medium-sized enterprises in North Macedonia face significant challenges, but they represent significant potential for growth and development.

The Education-Immigration Nexus: Situating Canadian Higher Education as Institutions of Immigrant Recruitment.

A policy shift in the mid-2000s established a pathway between international study and immigration to Canada. Designed to facilitate the settlement of young, highly skilled, and Canadian-trained workers, these pathways are premised on the conception of international students as ideal immigrants. Yet, because higher education institutions enjoy wide latitude when it comes to selecting and admitting international students, this education-immigration nexus has gained scholarly attention and sparked an immigration and settlement debate. What are the implications of having an uncapped temporary foreign worker stream administered by higher education institutions? What are the downstream effects for graduates, employers, and communities as the higher education sector accepts greater numbers of international students every year? What does this mean for the composition of Canadian immigration in the longer term? This paper will highlight the importance and relationship between study, labor market access, and immigration to Canada, consider the roles and responsibilities of higher education institutions in multi-step pathways to immigration, and discuss implications and future strategies which acknowledge the reality of this education-immigration nexus.

Refugee Labor Market Access Increases Support for Immigration

Does the economic integration of refugees affect public attitudes toward migration? We assess this pertinent question by examining a policy change in Germany, where the government significantly eased labor market access for refugees in the majority of the country. Using administrative employment data, we show that the policy led to a substantial increase in refugee employment, while natives’ wages and employment rates remained unaffected. The policy also had a positive effect on natives’ attitudes toward migration. Voters exposed to more refugees in the labor market were two percentage points more likely to vote for pro-migration parties across both state and federal elections. Additional survey analyses suggest that our results are driven by positive native–refugee interactions in the workplace.

An analysis of shifting educational preferences in Germany: Why do more and more school-leavers opt for higher education rather than dual vocational education and training?

This study analyzes the recent shifts in educational preferences among German school-leavers and the possible reasons behind this development. Until around 2007, the dual VET (Vocational Educational and Training) prepared the ground for the majority of young Germans’ entry to the labor market, whilst participation in HE (Higher Education) was at best just around a third of a cohort. School tracking, structural differences in labor market access, and above all positive societal perceptions of the dual VET ensured low numbers of students in HE. Surprisingly, since 2013 the number of German school-leavers entering HE has continuously outweighed the number of trainees in dual VET. This study argues that the growth of educational aspirations among Germans have been most significant in driving the rise in university students and the decline in dual VET trainees. However, shifting educational preferences have undoubtedly also been encouraged by institutional changes allowing greater accessibility to study entitlement for HE, the change to a knowledge-intense service-oriented industry leading to upskilling in the employment sector and new organizational structures in companies, and to some extent by the rise of dual study programs that combine academic and vocational learning.

Self-driven women: gendered mobility, employment, and the lift of the driving ban in Saudi Arabia

A key feature of current economic policies in Saudi Arabia is the inclusion of women in the labor market. The lift of the ban on women driving was expected to have a positive impact on this goal. Using longitudinal interviews with Saudi university students (both men and women), we find that the ban on women driving configured individual mobility as family mobility, which affected women’s options and men’s obligations. Secondly, we find that mobility constraints, moderated by socioeconomic status, continue to restrict women´s mobility even after the lift of the ban, reinforced by societal and family opposition. Finally, we show that the mobility constraints that Saudi women face affect their labor market preferences, opportunities, choices, and outcomes. While remaining conservative social attitudes continue to restrict women’s mobility, women’s increased labor force participation erodes those attitudes, creating a reinforcing mechanism in which increased mobility and labor market access strengthen each other.

:The Right to Higher Education: A Political Theory

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Market Conditions and the Labor Productivity Advantage of Business Groups

Using a large sample of firms from 208 subnational regions across 21 European countries, we investigate if labor market conditions affect the potential value of internal labor markets in business groups—i.e., set of firms under common ownership and control. Building on the “institutional voids” perspective on business groups and the strategic human capital literature, we theorize that slack labor market conditions facilitate and enhance the value of labor reallocations within these interfirm networks by inhibiting trade in human capital outside them. In these environments, we find that firms with internal labor market access—i.e., with an increasing number of sister companies in the same region-industry—show relatively higher labor productivity. Further, our findings suggest that the labor market frictions arising from both slack labor market conditions and employment protection regulations synergize to enhance the benefits of internal labor markets.

Policy resistance to paradigm shifts: Inclusive growth and innovation in Canada

AbstractWe assess Canada's labour market policy mix in order to determine whether the inclusive growth and innovation agenda indicates that technological change has triggered a policy paradigm shift. Our analysis of four policy areas concerning labour market access indicates no paradigm shift has occurred. Instead, the agenda is an example of policy resistance: first‐ and second‐order policy changes (changes to policy settings) maintain the status quo of labour market arrangements. The result is a revised set of supply‐side policies unlikely to reorganize the labour market. Technological disruption and the COVID‐19 pandemic offer opportunities to reorganize Canada's labour market policies' current policy mix, but, even under the banner of inclusive innovation, this shift is unlikely to happen.

Eastward enlargements of the European Union, transitional arrangements and self-employment

When the European Union expanded eastward in 2004 and 2007 to accession the so-called EU8 and EU2 countries, respectively, the incumbent member states imposed temporary restrictions on the employment of EU8 and EU2 nationals. Self-employed individuals were exempted from these transitional arrangements, prompting concerns that self-employment could be used as a means to evade the restrictions on labour market access. If the transitional arrangements led to an increase in EU8 and EU2 nationals’ self-employment rates, as previous research suggests, then their removal should have led to a corresponding decrease. This article analyses whether the latter has indeed been the case. Using pooled cross section data from the EU Labour Force Survey, over the period 2004–2019, we show that removing the transitional arrangements has had a negative effect on the self-employment rates of EU2 nationals, but seemingly no effect on the self-employment rates of EU8 nationals. Distinguishing between types of capitalist regimes, however, reveals a much more nuanced picture, with significant variation in terms of the magnitude and significance of the effect across groups of countries.