IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp5581.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Occupational Mobility of Immigrants in a Low Skilled Economy: The Spanish Case

Author

Listed:
  • Simón, Hipólito

    (Universidad de Alicante)

  • Ramos, Raul

    (University of Barcelona)

  • Sanromá, Esteban

    (University of Barcelona)

Abstract

We analyze the occupational mobility of immigrants between their origin countries and Spain and its determinants. We use microdata from the Encuesta Nacional de Inmigrantes to compute an internationally harmonized occupational status index (ISEI) that permits to quantify and properly analyze this kind of mobility. The obtained evidence shows that, in general, immigrants experience a strong occupational downgrading in Spain when compared to their origin countries. This fact is due to the strong downgrading they experience when entering the Spanish labour market and their low improvement in the following years.

Suggested Citation

  • Simón, Hipólito & Ramos, Raul & Sanromá, Esteban, 2011. "Occupational Mobility of Immigrants in a Low Skilled Economy: The Spanish Case," IZA Discussion Papers 5581, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5581
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp5581.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alcobendas, Miguel Angel & Rodríguez-Planas, Núria, 2009. "Immigrants' Assimilation Process in a Segmented Labor Market," IZA Discussion Papers 4394, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. George J. Borjas, 2021. "Assimilation, Changes in Cohort Quality, and the Earnings of Immigrants," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foundational Essays in Immigration Economics, chapter 2, pages 3-29, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    3. Amelie Constant & Douglas S. Massey, 2003. "Self-selection, earnings, and out-migration: A longitudinal study of immigrants to Germany," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 16(4), pages 631-653, November.
    4. Mark C. Regets & Harriet Orcutt Duleep, 1999. "Immigrants and Human-Capital Investment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 186-191, May.
    5. Duleep, Harriet Orcutt & Regets, Mark C., 1997. "The decline in immigrant entry earnings: Less transferable skills or lower ability?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(Supplemen), pages 189-208.
    6. Borjas, George J, 1995. "Assimilation and Changes in Cohort Quality Revisited: What Happened to Immigrant Earnings in the 1980s?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 13(2), pages 201-245, April.
    7. Hipólito Simón & Esteban Sanromá & Raúl Ramos, 2008. "Labour segregation and immigrant and native-born wage distributions in Spain: an analysis using matched employer–employee data," Spanish Economic Review, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 10(2), pages 135-168, June.
    8. Christian Dustmann & Yoram Weiss, 2007. "Return Migration: Theory and Empirical Evidence from the UK," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 45(2), pages 236-256, June.
    9. Catalina Amuedo‐Dorantes & Sara De La Rica, 2007. "Labour Market Assimilation of Recent Immigrants in Spain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 45(2), pages 257-284, June.
    10. Mahuteau, Stephane & Junankar, Pramod, 2007. "Do Migrants succeed in the Australian Labour Market? Furher Evidence on Job Quality," MPRA Paper 8703, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Mar 2008.
    11. Green, David A, 1999. "Immigrant Occupational Attainment: Assimilation and Mobility over Time," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 17(1), pages 49-79, January.
    12. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & de la Rica, Sara, 2011. "Complements or substitutes? Task specialization by gender and nativity in Spain," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 697-707, October.
    13. Ilana Redstone Akresh, 2008. "Occupational Trajectories of Legal US Immigrants: Downgrading and Recovery," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 34(3), pages 435-456, September.
    14. Christian Dustmann & Yoram Weiss, 2007. "Return Migration: Theory and Empirical Evidence," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 0702, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    15. Olof Åslund & Dan-Olof Rooth, 2007. "Do when and where matter? initial labour market conditions and immigrant earnings," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(518), pages 422-448, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Luciana Méndez-Errico, 2018. "Immigrants over-education and wage penalty. Evidence from Uruguay," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 18-16, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    2. Olga Alonso-Villar & Coral Río, 2013. "Occupational segregation in a country of recent mass immigration: evidence from Spain," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 50(1), pages 109-134, February.
    3. Ognjen Obućina, 2013. "Occupational trajectories and occupational cost among Senegalese immigrants in Europe," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 28(19), pages 547-580.
    4. Nuno Crespo & Nadia Simoes & Sandrina B. Moreira, 2014. "Gender differences in occupational mobility - evidence from Portugal," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(4), pages 460-481, July.
    5. Peter Mühlau, 2012. "Occupational and Earnings Mobility of Polish Migrants in Ireland in the Recession," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp413, IIIS.
    6. Elena Vidal-Coso & Pau Miret-Gamundi, 2014. "The labour trajectories of immigrant women in Spain: Are there signs of upward social mobility?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 31(13), pages 337-380.
    7. Dell’Aringa, Carlo & Lucifora, Claudio & Pagani, Laura, 2012. "A "Glass-Ceiling" Effect for Immigrants in the Italian Labour Market?," IZA Discussion Papers 6555, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Luciana Méndez Errico, 2013. "The Impacts of Social Networks on Immigrants’ Employment Prospects: The Spanish Case 1997-2007," Working Papers wpdea1301, Department of Applied Economics at Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona.
    9. Carlo Dell’Aringa & Claudio Lucifora & Laura Pagani, 2015. "Earnings differentials between immigrants and natives: the role of occupational attainment," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-18, December.
    10. Esteve Sanromá & Raúl Ramos & Hipólito Simón, 2015. "Portability of Human Capital and Immigrant Overeducation in Spain," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 34(2), pages 223-241, April.
    11. Jesús Ruiz-Huerta Carbonell & Rosa María Martínez López, 2014. "Multidimensional poverty in immigrant households: a comparative analysis within the Europe 2020 framework," CIRANO Working Papers 2014s-18, CIRANO.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hipólito Simón & Raul Ramos & Esteban Sanromá, 2014. "Immigrant Occupational Mobility: Longitudinal Evidence from Spain," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 30(2), pages 223-255, May.
    2. Simón, Hipólito & Ramos, Raul & Sanromá, Esteban, 2011. "Occupational Mobility of Immigrants in a Low Skilled Economy: The Spanish Case," IZA Discussion Papers 5581, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
    3. Sanromá, Esteban & Ramos, Raul & Simón, Hipólito, 2009. "Immigrant Wages in the Spanish Labour Market: Does the Origin of Human Capital Matter?," IZA Discussion Papers 4157, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Eleni Kalfa & Matloob Piracha, 2017. "Immigrants’ educational mismatch and the penalty of over-education," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(5), pages 462-481, September.
    5. Mattoo, Aaditya & Neagu, Ileana Cristina & Özden, Çağlar, 2012. "Performance of skilled migrants in the U.S.: A dynamic approach," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(5), pages 829-843.
    6. Dustmann, Christian & Glitz, Albrecht, 2011. "Migration and Education," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 327-439, Elsevier.
    7. de la Rica, Sara & Glitz, Albrecht & Ortega, Francesc, 2013. "Immigration in Europe: Trends, Policies and Empirical Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 7778, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Alícia Adserà & Ana M. Ferrer & Virginia Hernanz, 2023. "Differences in Skill Requirements Between Jobs Held by Immigrant and Native Women Across Five European Destinations," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(3), pages 1-29, June.
    9. Jesús Ruiz-Huerta Carbonell & Rosa María Martínez López, 2014. "Multidimensional poverty in immigrant households: a comparative analysis within the Europe 2020 framework," CIRANO Working Papers 2014s-18, CIRANO.
    10. Strom, Steinar & Venturini, Alessandra & Villosio, Claudia, 2013. "Wage Assimilation: Migrants versus Natives and Foreign Migrants versus Internal Migrants," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201341, University of Turin.
    11. Esteve Sanromá & Raúl Ramos & Hipólito Simón, 2015. "Portability of Human Capital and Immigrant Overeducation in Spain," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 34(2), pages 223-241, April.
    12. Sanromá, Esteban & Ramos, Raul & Simón, Hipólito, 2008. "The Portability of Human Capital and Immigrant Assimilation: Evidence for Spain," IZA Discussion Papers 3649, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. José M. Casado-Díaz & Raquel Simón-Albert & Hipólito Simón, 2022. "Reassessing the commuting penalty for immigrants: new evidence from Spain," Transportation, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 1099-1132, August.
    14. Harriet Duleep & Xingfei Liu & Mark Regets, 2022. "How the earnings growth of US immigrants was underestimated," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(2), pages 381-407, April.
    15. Greenwood, Michael J. & Ward, Zachary, 2015. "Immigration quotas, World War I, and emigrant flows from the United States in the early 20th century," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 76-96.
    16. Sholeh A. Maani & Mengyu Dai & Kerr Inkson, 2015. "Occupational Attainment and Earnings among Immigrant Groups: Evidence from New Zealand," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 18(1), pages 95-112.
    17. Izquierdo, Mario & Lacuesta, Aitor & Vegas, Raquel, 2009. "Assimilation of immigrants in Spain: A longitudinal analysis," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 669-678, December.
    18. Faini, Riccardo & Strom, Steinar & Venturini, Alessandra & Villosio, Claudia, 2009. "Are Foreign Migrants More Assimilated Than Native Ones?," IZA Discussion Papers 4639, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Christian Dustmann & Joseph-Simon Görlach, 2014. "Selective Outmigration and the Estimation of Immigrants' Earnings Profiles," CESifo Working Paper Series 4617, CESifo.
    20. Abdulla, Kanat, 2020. "Human capital accumulation: Evidence from immigrants in low-income countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(4), pages 951-973.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Spain; occupational mobility; immigration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5581. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.