Do Legal Immigrants and Natives Compete in the Labour Market? Evidence from Catalonia

Lluís Díaz Serrano

Working Papers from Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics

Abstract: The precondition for labour-market competition between immigrants and natives is that both are willing to accept jobs that do not differ in quality. To test this hypothesis, in this paper we compare the working conditions between immigrants and natives in Catalonia. Comparing immigrants’ working conditions in relation to their native counterparts is not only a useful analysis for studying the extent to which immigrants and low-skilled native workers are direct competitors in the labour market, but also allows us to contribute to the literature on this issue by moving away from the conventional approach used in previous studies. Our results indicate that: i) natives and immigrants display a different taste for job (dis)amenities; ii) Catalan-born workers might be in direct competition with EU15 immigrants, while non-Catalan Spanish workers might be competing with Latin American immigrants, and; iii) African-born immigrants are the group in the Catalan workforce that by far face the worst working conditions.

Keywords: Mercat de treball; Catalunya; Treballadors estrangers; Immigrants; Condicions de treball; Qualitat de vida en el treball; Satisfacció en el treball; 331 - Treball. Relacions laborals. Ocupació. Organització del treball (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:urv:wpaper:2072/148476

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