IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp8065.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Economic Integration of Intermarried Labour Migrants, Refugees and Family Migrants to Sweden: Premium or Selection?

Author

Listed:
  • Irastorza, Nahikari

    (Malmö University)

  • Bevelander, Pieter

    (Malmö University)

Abstract

We use Swedish register data to compare the employment and income of immigrants who intermarry natives versus those of immigrants who intramarry other immigrants in Sweden. We conduct the same analyses on three subsamples: labour migrants, refugees and family migrants. We find that intermarried immigrants outperformed intramarried ones in employment rates and salaries before and after marriage, in 1997 and 2007 respectively, and the same in true for each of the three subsamples analyzed. There is a statistically significant difference in income growth between intermarried and intramarried immigrants within that time period, but this difference is only significant for the subsample of family migrants. Finally, the upward mobility in employment status between 1997 and 2007 is higher for intermarried immigrants than for intramarried ones, with this being also the case for each of the three groups of labour migrants, refugees and family migrants. Our findings provide evidence to support both the selection hypothesis and the intermarriage premium hypothesis for the whole group of immigrants to Sweden. They also fully support the selection hypothesis for labour and family migrants but only partially for refugees; whereas they fully confirm the intermarriage premium hypothesis for family migrants but only partially for refugees and labour migrants.

Suggested Citation

  • Irastorza, Nahikari & Bevelander, Pieter, 2014. "Economic Integration of Intermarried Labour Migrants, Refugees and Family Migrants to Sweden: Premium or Selection?," IZA Discussion Papers 8065, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8065
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp8065.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pieter Bevelander & Ravi Pendakur, 2012. "The labour market integration of refugee and family reunion immigrants: A comparison of outcomes in Canada and Sweden," Norface Discussion Paper Series 2012041, Norface Research Programme on Migration, Department of Economics, University College London.
    2. Nekby, Lena, 2010. "Inter- and Intra-Marriage Premiums Revisited: It’s probably who you are, not who you marry!," SULCIS Working Papers 2010:12, Stockholm University, Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies - SULCIS.
    3. Xin Meng & Dominique Meurs, 2009. "Intermarriage, language, and economic assimilation process," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(1/2), pages 127-144, March.
    4. Kantarevic, Jasmin, 2004. "Interethnic Marriages and Economic Assimilation of Immigrants," IZA Discussion Papers 1142, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Martin Nordin & Dan‐Olof Rooth, 2009. "The Ethnic Employment and Income Gap in Sweden: Is Skill or Labor Market Discrimination the Explanation?," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 111(3), pages 487-510, September.
    6. Xin Meng & Robert G. Gregory, 2005. "Intermarriage and the Economic Assimilation of Immigrants," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 23(1), pages 135-176, January.
    7. Baker, Michael & Benjamin, Dwayne, 1997. "The Role of the Family in Immigrants' Labor-Market Activity: An Evaluation of Alternative Explanations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(4), pages 705-727, September.
    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. Zerong Wang & Guochang Zhao, 2022. "Cultural integration among non‐Han migrants in urban China: To what extent does intermarriage matter?," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 1490-1512, December.
    2. Maria Elo, 2015. "Diaspora networks in international business: a review on an emerging stream of research," Chapters, in: Handbook on International Alliance and Network Research, chapter 1, pages 13-41, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Rosa Weber, 2015. "Does intermarriage change migrants’ preferences for the home country?," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-21, December.

    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. Olga Nottmeyer, 2010. "Does Intermarriage Pay Off?: A Panel Data Analysis," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 314, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    2. Nottmeyer, Olga, 2010. "Does Intermarriage Pay Off? A Panel Data Analysis," IZA Discussion Papers 5104, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Furtado, Delia & Song, Tao, 2014. "Trends in the Returns to Social Assimilation: Earnings Premiums among U.S. Immigrants that Marry Natives," IZA Discussion Papers 8626, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Olga Nottmeyer, 2010. "Does Intermarriage Pay Off?: A Panel Data Analysis," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1044, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    5. Dan Rodríguez-García, 2015. "Intermarriage and Integration Revisited," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 662(1), pages 8-36, November.
    6. Nielsen, Helena Skyt & Smith, Nina & Celikaksoy, Aycan, 2007. "The Effect of Marriage on Education of Immigrants: Evidence from a Policy Reform Restricting Spouse Import," IZA Discussion Papers 2899, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Miao Chi, 2017. "Improved legal status as the major source of earnings premiums associated with intermarriage: evidence from the 1986 IRCA amnesty," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 691-706, June.
    8. Delia Furtado & Stephen J. Trejo, 2013. "Interethnic marriages and their economic effects," Chapters, in: Amelie F. Constant & Klaus F. Zimmermann (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Migration, chapter 15, pages 276-292, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Chunbei Wang & Le Wang, 2012. "The effects of 9/11 on intermarriage between natives and immigrants to the U.S," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 171-192, June.
    10. Nekby, Lena, 2010. "Inter- and Intra-Marriage Premiums Revisited: It's Probably Who You Are, Not Who You Marry!," IZA Discussion Papers 5317, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Alicia Adserà & Ana Ferrer, 2014. "Immigrants and Demography: Marriage, Divorce, and Fertility," Working Papers 1401, University of Waterloo, Department of Economics, revised Jan 2014.
    12. Delia Furtado & Nikolaos Theodoropoulos, 2009. "Intermarriage and Immigrant Employment: The Role of Networks," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 0906, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    13. Delia Furtado & Tao Song, 2015. "Intermarriage and Socioeconomic Integration," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 662(1), pages 207-222, November.
    14. Gina Potarca & Laura Bernardi, 2021. "The Intermarriage Life Satisfaction Premium," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 1413-1440, March.
    15. Amparo González-Ferrer & Ognjen Obućina & Clara Cortina & Teresa Castro Martín, 2018. "Mixed marriages between immigrants and natives in Spain: The gendered effect of marriage market constraints," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 39(1), pages 1-32.
    16. Andrén, Daniela & Andrén, Thomas, 2013. "State dependence in Swedish social assistance," Working Papers 2013:7, Örebro University, School of Business.
    17. Nadja Milewski & Annegret Gawron, 2019. "Is there an association between marital exogamy of immigrants and nonmigrants and their mental health? A two-partners approach," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 40(21), pages 561-598.
    18. Gawron, Annegret & Carol, Sarah, 2022. "Immigrants’ Life Satisfaction in Intermarriages with Natives: A Family Life Course Perspective," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue OnlineFir, pages 1-1.
    19. Helena Skyt Nielsen & Nina Smith & Aycan Çelikaksoy, 2009. "The Effect of Marriage on Education of Immigrants: Evidence from a Policy Reform Restricting Marriage Migration," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 111(3), pages 457-486, September.
    20. Rosa Weber, 2015. "Does intermarriage change migrants’ preferences for the home country?," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-21, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    economic integration; binational couples; immigrants; intermarriage premium; Sweden;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure

    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:dp8065. 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.