Are Foreign Migrants More Assimilated Than Native Ones?

Riccardo Faini, Steinar Strøm (), Alessandra Venturini () and Claudia Villosio
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Alessandra Venturini: University of Turin

No 4639, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: The paper compares the pattern of wage assimilation of foreigners with both native immigrants and local natives in Italy, a country with large internal and international migration. This comparison, not yet exploited, yields understanding of the role played by language and knowledge of social capital. We use the administrative dataset on dependent employment (WHIP), to estimate a fixed effect model of the weekly wages of males aged 18-45 with controls for selection in return migration and unobserved heterogeneity. The three groups of workers start their careers at the same wage level but, as experience increases, the wage profiles of foreigners and natives, both immigrants and locals, diverge. A positive selection in the returns prevails, so that the foreign workers with lower wages are the most likely to stay in Italy. Also an "ethnic" skill differential emerges and a negative status dependence for those entering at low wage level.

Keywords: assimilation; wage differential; migration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C23 J31 J61 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 pages
Date: 2009-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-mig
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published - published as 'Wage assimilation of immigrants and internal migrants: the role of linguistic distance' in: Regional Studies, 2018, 52, 1423-1434

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Related works:
Working Paper: Are Foreign Migrants more Assimilated than Native Ones? (2009)
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