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When Immigrants Meet Exporters: A Reassessment of the Immigrant Wage Gap

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Listed:
  • Léa Marchal

    (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, IC Migrations - Institut Convergences Migrations [Aubervilliers], UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)

  • Guzman Ourens

    (Tilburg University [Tilburg] - Netspar)

  • Giulia Sabbadini

    (Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement - Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies [Geneva, Switzerland])

Abstract

We use French employer-employee data to reassess the wage gap between native and foreign workers. We find that the wage gap varies with the export intensity of the firm and the occupation of the worker. A model with heterogeneous firms and workers shows that our findings are consistent with white-collar immigrants capturing an informational rent. The evidence supports this mechanism. First, we show that the wage gap is positively correlated with the complexity of the firm export activity. Second, we show that wages react to changes in export intensity when the export destination coincides with the origin of foreign workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Léa Marchal & Guzman Ourens & Giulia Sabbadini, 2022. "When Immigrants Meet Exporters: A Reassessment of the Immigrant Wage Gap," Working Papers halshs-03905529, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-03905529
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-03905529
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    export; firm; immigrants; wage inequality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions

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