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On discrimination and the status of immigrants in the Hong Kong labour market

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  • Alan T.K. Wan

    (City University of Hong Kong)

Abstract

This paper studies the extent of discrimination against mainland Chinese immigrants in the Hong Kong labour market and provides a quantitative assessment of the source of wage differentials between local born Hong Kong residents and Chinese immigrants. Using the 2001 Hong Kong Population Census data, we find strong evidence of a wage gap between locals and post-1980 Chinese immigrants. There is also clear evidence that discrimination accounts for a substantial proportion of the wage gap between the two groups. Furthermore, our findings suggest that while the overall wage gap may shrink with the immigrants' duration of residence in Hong Kong, the percentage of the wage gap due to discrimination does not change very much after the immediate post-immigration period.

Suggested Citation

  • Alan T.K. Wan, 2006. "On discrimination and the status of immigrants in the Hong Kong labour market," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 10(7), pages 1-17.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-06j60002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Stefan Gravemeyer & Thomas Gries & Jinjun Xue, 2011. "Income Determination and Income Discrimination in Shenzhen," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 48(7), pages 1457-1475, May.
    2. Stefan Gravemeyer & Thomas Gries & Jinjun Xue, 2008. "Discrimination, Income Determination and Inequality – The case of Shenzhen," Working Papers CIE 16, Paderborn University, CIE Center for International Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    discrimination;

    JEL classification:

    • J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers
    • C5 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling

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