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The difference between wages and wage potentials: Earnings disadvantages of immigrants in Germany

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  • Günter Lang

Abstract

Immigrants in Germany have poor earnings performance relative to natives. Claiming that human-capital endowments determine earnings potentials rather than actual earnings, a stochastic earnings frontier is estimated and used to seek systematic differences between natives and migrants for GSOEP data for the year 2000. While empirical results clearly support the frontier assumption, natives and immigrants are surprisingly about the same with respect to the frontier. Assuming a half-normal distribution of the wage gap, on average, both groups transform a modest 84% share of their potential income into market earnings. This implies wage inequality can be attributed to human-capital differentials alone. The human-capital endowments of immigrants are largely determined by the very low percentage who have college degrees, their slow assimilation and zero-return on imported experience. The paper also tries to explain individual wage gaps, which are significantly decreased in married subjects raising families, but increased in employees in small- or medium-sized relative to larger firms. However, these variables only make minor contributions to the variance. Copyright Springer 2005

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  • Günter Lang, 2005. "The difference between wages and wage potentials: Earnings disadvantages of immigrants in Germany," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 3(1), pages 21-42, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jecinq:v:3:y:2005:i:1:p:21-42
    DOI: 10.1007/s10888-004-7581-4
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    Cited by:

    1. Dipanwita Sarkar & Trevor C. Collier, 2019. "Does host-country education mitigate immigrant inefficiency? Evidence from earnings of Australian university graduates," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 81-106, January.
    2. repec:eid:wpaper:08/10 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Beyer, Robert, 2016. "The Labor Market Performance of Immigrants in Germany," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145799, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    4. Robert C. M. Beyer, 2017. "The Performance of Immigrants in the German Labor Market," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 892, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    5. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:10:y:2006:i:7:p:1-17 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Ran Gu & Zenghua He, 2023. "Can Environmental Regulation Improve Labor Allocation Efficiency? Evidence from China’s New Environmental Protection Law," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-15, March.
    7. Bruder, Jana & Frosch, Katharina, 2006. "Foreign nationality and age: A double drawback for reemployment in Germany?," Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory 63, University of Rostock, Institute of Economics.
    8. Bishop, John A. & Grodner, Andrew & Liu, Haiyong & Chiou, Jong-Rong, 2007. "Gender earnings differentials in Taiwan: A stochastic frontier approach," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 934-945, December.
    9. Wido Geis, 2010. "High Unemployment in Germany: Why do Foreigners Suffer Most?," ifo Working Paper Series 90, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    10. 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.
    11. Seonho Shin, 2022. "To work or not? Wages or subsidies?: Copula-based evidence of subsidized refugees’ negative selection into employment," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(4), pages 2209-2252, October.
    12. Choi, Hyung-Jai & Joesch, Jutta M. & Lundberg, Shelly, 2008. "Sons, daughters, wives, and the labour market outcomes of West German men," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 795-811, October.
    13. O B Bodvarsson & John Sessions, 2010. "Nationality Discrimination in the Labor Market: Theory and Test," Department of Economics Working Papers 08/10, University of Bath, Department of Economics.
    14. Bazen, Stephen & Waziri, Khalid Maman, 2017. "The Assimilation of Young Workers into the Labour Market in France: A Stochastic Earnings Frontier Approach," IZA Discussion Papers 10841, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Aldashev Alisher & Gernandt Johannes & Thomsen Stephan L., 2012. "The Immigrant-Native Wage Gap in Germany," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 232(5), pages 490-517, October.
    16. Victoria Chorny & Rob Euwals & Kees Folmer, 2007. "Immigration policy and welfare state design; a qualitative approach to explore the interaction," CPB Document 153, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    17. Joanna María Bashford-Fernández & Ana Rodríguez-Álvarez, 2019. "Wage Frontiers in Pre and Post-crisis Spain: Implications for Welfare and Inequality," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(2), pages 579-608, June.
    18. Choi, Hyung-Jai & Joesch, Jutta M. & Lundberg, Shelly, 2005. "Work and Family: Marriage, Children, Child Gender and the Work Hours and Earnings of West German Men," IZA Discussion Papers 1761, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Zenón Jiménez-Ridruejo & Carlos Borondo Arribas, 2011. "Wage Assimilation of Immigrants in Spain," Working Papers 11-02, Asociación Española de Economía y Finanzas Internacionales.

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