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Working Paper 203 - Immigrants, Skills and Wages in the Gambian Labor Market

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Using data from the Household Poverty Surveys in 2003 and 2010, this paper analyzes characteristics of immigrants in The Gambian labor market. The analysis indicates that immigrants are relatively young, low-skilled (though with skill levels comparable to Gambians) and mainly come from neighboring West African countries. While immigrants on average earn more than Gambians, this labor market advantage varies significantly depending on workers’ skill level. For instance, unskilled immigrants have a wage advantage but such an advantage does not exist among the skilled immigrants. Given that The Gambia is a country with high skilled emigration rates, these and other findings in this paper have important policy implications.

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  • Ousman Gajigo & Audrey Verdier‐Chouchane, 2014. "Working Paper 203 - Immigrants, Skills and Wages in the Gambian Labor Market," Working Paper Series 2134, African Development Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:adb:adbwps:2134
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