The Impact of Language Proficiency on Immigrants' Earnings in Spain

Santiago Budria Rodriguez () and Pablo Swedberg ()
Additional contact information
Pablo Swedberg: St. Louis University

No 6957, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This article uses micro-data from the Spanish National Immigrant Survey to investigate the impact of Spanish language proficiency on immigrants' earnings. The results, based on Instrumental Variables (IV), point to a substantial earnings return to Spanish proficiency, of approximately 27%. This figure varies largely across educational groups, with high-qualified workers earning a premium of almost 50%. This conspicuous complementarity between formal qualifications and language skills poses a challenge for traditional language training policies, for these typically neglect the immigrants' heterogeneous educational background.

Keywords: instrumental variables; immigration; Spanish language proficiency; earnings (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 J24 J61 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 26 pages
Date: 2012-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur, nep-lab, nep-lma and nep-mig
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

Published - published in: Revista de Economía Aplicada, 2015, 23 (67), 63-91

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