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Labour Market Outcomes of Immigrants in Germany – The Importance of Heterogeneity and Attrition Bias

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  • Michael Fertig

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  • Stefanie Schurer

    ()

Abstract

Heterogeneity in the ethnic composition of Germany’s immigrant population renders general conclusions on the degree of economic integration difficult. Using a rich longitudinal data-set, this paper tests for differences in economic assimilation profiles of four groups of foreign-born immigrants and ethnic Germans. The importance of time-invariant individual unobserved heterogeneity and panel attrition in determining the speed of assimilation is analysed. We find evidence for heterogeneity in the assimilation profiles for both annual earnings and unemployment probabilities. Robust assimilation profiles are found for two cohorts only. Omitted variables, systematic sample attrition and the presence of second generation immigrants in the sample influence the speed of assimilation, but do not change the overall picture.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen in its series Ruhr Economic Papers with number 0020.

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Length: 54 pages
Date of creation: Jul 2007
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:rwi:repape:0020

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Keywords: Unobserved heterogeneity; panel attrition; sample selection; fixed effects; migration;

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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Jonathan Wadsworth, 2012. "Musn’t Grumble. Immigration, Health and Health Service Use in the UK and Germany," Norface Discussion Paper Series 2012028, Norface Research Programme on Migration, Department of Economics, University College London.
  2. Michael Beenstock & Barry Chiswick & Ari Paltiel, 2010. "Testing the immigrant assimilation hypothesis with longitudinal data," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 7-27, March.
  3. Stefanie Schurer, 2008. "Labour Market Outcomes of Second Generation Immigrants: How Heterogeneous Are They Really?," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2008n14, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
  4. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Hanel, Barbara & McVicar, Duncan, 2012. "Immigrant Wage and Employment Assimilation: A Comparison of Methods," IZA Discussion Papers 7062, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  5. Riccardo Faini & Steiner Strom & Alessandra Venturini & Claudia Villosio, 2009. "Are Foreign Migrants more Assimilated than Native Ones?," LABORatorio R. Revelli Working Papers Series 96, LABORatorio R. Revelli, Centre for Employment Studies.
  6. Jonathan Wadsworth, 2012. "Musn’t Grumble. Immigration, Health and Health Service Use in the UK and Germany," CReAM Discussion Paper Series 1221, Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), Department of Economics, University College London.
  7. Mosfequs Salehin & Robert Breunig, 2012. "The immigrant wage gap and assimilation in Australia: the impact of unobserved heterogeneity," CEPR Discussion Papers 661, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
  8. Jan Brenner, 2007. "Effects of Job Entry Restrictions on Economic Integration - Evidence for Recent Ethnic German Immigrants," Ruhr Economic Papers 0025, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
  9. Mari Kangasniemi & Merja Kauhanen, 2013. "Who leaves and who stays? Outmigration of Estonian immigrants from Finland and its impact on economic assimilation of Estonian immigrants in Finland," Norface Discussion Paper Series 2013001, Norface Research Programme on Migration, Department of Economics, University College London.

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