Immigrant-Native Wage Gaps over Two Generations: Does the Field of Study Matter?

Kevin Pineda-Hernandez, Rycx, François (), Thomas Senterre () and Melanie Volral ()
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Kevin Pineda-Hernandez: Free University of Brussels
Rycx, François: Free University of Brussels
Thomas Senterre: ULB and UMONS
Melanie Volral: UMONS

No 18728, IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER

Abstract: Although educational attainment is known to moderate immigrant-native wage gaps, the role of the field of study remains largely unexplored. Drawing on detailed data for master's graduates in Belgium (1999-2016), we show that the immigrant-native wage gap narrows over two generations but persists in higher-paying fields (STEM, LEM), while disappearing in lower-paying ones. Wage decompositions reveal a small positive quantity effect (immigrants favour higher-paying fields), outweighed by a negative price effect (as returns to fields are lower for immigrants). This price effect halves across generations. Together, both effects explain 28-37% of the overall pay gap. Sensitivity tests refine these findings.

Keywords: immigrant-native wage gap; first- and second-generation immigrants; field of study; matched employer-employee data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I23 I24 I25 I26 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-lma
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