Employment polarization and immigrant employment opportunities

Hanna Wielandt

No 2015-025, SFB 649 Discussion Papers from Humboldt University Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649: Economic Risk

Abstract: Building on the task-based approach of technological change, this paper discusses the interaction between occupational polarization (e.g. a gradual increase of native employment in the lowest and highest-paying jobs) and employment opportunities of immigrant workers. Using high quality administrative data for Germany, I first show that technological change is positively related to employment growth of natives in low-paying occupations that are also typically held by immigrant workers. In a second step, I show that labor markets in which native employment in those low-paying occupations grew more also experienced a larger decline in immigrant employment rates. The findings are consistent with the idea that the reallocation of natives towards low paying occupations induces stronger competition in the low-skill labor market, a segment in which foreign workers are typically employed. The results suggest that this relationship is more relevant for recent immigrants who have been in Germany for less than 5 years, and that approximately one third of the decline in employment rates could be associated with occupational polarization of native employment.

Keywords: Job Tasks; Polarization; Technological Change; Immigration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J24 J31 J62 O33 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:sfb649:sfb649dp2015-025

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