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The Composition of Wage Differentials between Migrants and Natives

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  • Panagiotis Nanos
  • Christian Schluter

Abstract

We consider the role of unobservables, such as differences in search frictions, reservation wages, and productivities for the explanation of wage differentials between migrants and natives. We disentangle these by estimating an empirical general equilibrium search model with on-the-job search due to Bontemps, Robin, and van den Berg (1999) on segments of the labour market defined by occupation, age, and nationality using a large scale German administrative dataset. The native-migrant wage differential is then decomposed into several parts, and we focus especially on the component that we label "migrant effect", being the difference in wage offers between natives and migrants in the same occupation-age segment in firms of the same productivity. Counterfactual decompositions of wage differentials allow us to identify and quantify their drivers, thus explaining within a common framework what is often labelled the unexplained wage gap.

Suggested Citation

  • Panagiotis Nanos & Christian Schluter, 2013. "The Composition of Wage Differentials between Migrants and Natives," Papers 1306.1781, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2013.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:1306.1781
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Moreno-Galbis, Eva & Tritah, Ahmed, 2016. "The effects of immigration in frictional labor markets: Theory and empirical evidence from EU countries," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 76-98.
    2. Eva Moreno-Galbis & Ahmed Tritah, 2014. "Effects of immigration in frictional labor markets: theory and empirical evidence from EU countries," Working Papers halshs-01100269, HAL.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs

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