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Are Asian Migrants Discriminated Against in the Labour Market? A Case Study of Australia

Author

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  • Junankar, Pramod N. (Raja)

    (University of New South Wales)

  • Paul, Satya

    (University of Western Sydney)

  • Yasmeen, Wahida

    (University of Western Sydney)

Abstract

This paper explores the issue of discrimination against Asian migrants in the Australian labour market using a unique panel data set, the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia (LSIA). This paper estimates models of the probability of being unemployed for Asian and non-Asian migrants controlling for various characteristics including age, education, and English language ability. More importantly, we control for the visa status of the migrants. Our results suggest that there are significant "unexplained differences" for males that may be ascribed to "discrimination" against Asian migrants. However, the results for females are mixed: the evidence suggests that Asian females do worse than non-Asian females only in the first year after arrival.

Suggested Citation

  • Junankar, Pramod N. (Raja) & Paul, Satya & Yasmeen, Wahida, 2004. "Are Asian Migrants Discriminated Against in the Labour Market? A Case Study of Australia," IZA Discussion Papers 1167, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1167
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    Cited by:

    1. P.N. (Raja) Junankar & Stéphane Mahuteau, 2005. "Do Migrants Get Good Jobs? New Migrant Settlement in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 81(s1), pages 34-46, August.
    2. Agnieszka Kosny & Iracema Santos & Alison Reid, 2017. "Employment in a “Land of Opportunity?” Immigrants’ Experiences of Racism and Discrimination in the Australian Workplace," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 483-497, May.
    3. Jawad Syed & Edwina Pio, 2010. "Veiled diversity? Workplace experiences of Muslim women in Australia," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 115-137, March.
    4. Denise Doiron & Rochelle Guttmann, 2009. "Wealth Distributions of Migrant and Australian‐born Households," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 85(268), pages 32-45, March.
    5. Kacey DOUGLAS, 2016. "Raja Junankar, Economics of Immigration: Immigration and the Australian Economy," Journal of Economic and Social Thought, KSP Journals, vol. 3(2), pages 317-320, June.
    6. Tariq Hassan Haque & M Ohidul Haque, 2022. "The Unemployment Imbalance Between Non-English-Speaking Migrant Women and Australian Born Women," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 20(2), pages 459-478, June.
    7. Prem Thapa, 2004. "On The Risk Of Unemployment: A Comparative Assessment of the Labour Market Success of Migrants in Australia," CEPR Discussion Papers 473, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    8. Prem Jung Thapa & Tue Gørgens, 2006. "A Duration Analysis of the Time Taken to Find the First Job for Newly Arrived Migrants in Australia," CEPR Discussion Papers 527, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    immigrants; discrimination; unemployment; mobility; wage differentials;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J7 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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