New immigration and labour markets in western Europe: a trade-off between unemployment and job quality?

Emilio Reyneri and Giovanna Fullin
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Emilio Reyneri: Professor of Sociology of Labour, Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Milan Bicocca
Giovanna Fullin: Assistant professor of Economic sociology, Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Milan Bicocca

Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, 2008, vol. 14, issue 4, 573-588

Abstract: New immigrants have been integrated into the labour markets of receiving countries in very different ways. In the ‘old’ receiving countries of central and northern Europe their unemployment rate has proved much higher than that of natives, while those in jobs have found reasonably skilled work in line with their educational credentials. In the ‘new’ receiving countries of southern Europe, by contrast, the unemployment rate of immigrants is only slightly higher than that of natives, but even the best-educated among them occupy very poor-quality jobs. This article sets out to explain the reasons for this discrepancy, which lie not only in the different methods of entry and variations in welfare state generosity, but also in the diverse composition of the demand for labour. We conclude by highlighting some short- and medium-term problems posed by this state of affairs.

Keywords: immigration; labour market; western Europe; unemployment; quality of jobs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:treure:v:14:y:2008:i:4:p:573-588

DOI: 10.1177/102425890801400405

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