Immigrant assimilation in the Greek labor market

Purpose - This paper evaluates the economic integration of immigrant groups in Greece. Design/methodology/approach - We employ microdata from the 2001 and 2011 decennial Censuses, combined with aggregate data from the 2006 Structure of Earnings Survey. We estimate probit and multinomial logit regressions. Findings - We document that migrants are, upon arrival, less likely to be employed relative to similar natives. On the contrary, their odds of being overeducated or holding a low-paying job are higher. There is, however, evidence of substantial heterogeneity between the different origin groups considered. Residence in Greece helps migrants to narrow the initial employment gap, whilst its impact on occupational mobility appears to be limited. The assimilation process of female migrants is much slower than that of their male counterparts. Originality/value - This is the first study using Greek data to assess the integration of immigrants in the labor market, suggesting mainly limited occupational assimilation of the immigrant groups considered.