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Are Ireland’s Immigrants Integrating into its Labour Market?

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  • Barrett, Alan

    (ESRI, Dublin)

  • Duffy, David

    (ESRI, Dublin)

Abstract

Ireland has experienced a remarkable change in its migratory patterns in recent years and has moved from experiencing large-scale emigration to receiving significant inflows. In this paper, we use data from a nationally representative sample of immigrants and natives drawn in 2005 to assess the occupational attainment of immigrants in Ireland relative to natives. It is found that immigrants, on average, are less likely to be in high-level occupations controlling for factors such as age and education. When looked at by year of arrival, it appears as if immigrants who arrived more recently have lower occupational attainment relative to earlier arrivals, thereby suggesting a process of integration. However, a closer analysis shows that the observation of better occupational attainment for earlier arrivals can be explained by a change in the national origin mix of Ireland’s immigrants, with immigrants from the New Member States of the European Union having the lowest occupational attainment. Within national groups there is generally no clear evidence of improved occupational attainment over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Barrett, Alan & Duffy, David, 2007. "Are Ireland’s Immigrants Integrating into its Labour Market?," IZA Discussion Papers 2838, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2838
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    1. Patrick Honohan & Brendan Walsh, 2002. "Catching Up with the Leaders: The Irish Hare," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 33(1), pages 1-78.
    2. Barry R. Chiswick & Yew Liang Lee & Paul W. Miller, 2002. "Longitudinal Analysis of Immigrant Occupational Mobility: A Test of the Immigrant Assimilation Hypothesis," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 02-08, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    3. Chiswick, Barry R, 1978. "The Effect of Americanization on the Earnings of Foreign-born Men," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 86(5), pages 897-921, October.
    4. Barry R. Chiswick & Yew Liang Lee & Paul W. Miller, 2005. "Immigrant Earnings: A Longitudinal Analysis," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 51(4), pages 485-503, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Christian Dustmann & Tommaso Frattini & Caroline Halls, 2010. "Assessing the Fiscal Costs and Benefits of A8 Migration to the UK," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 31(1), pages 1-41, March.
    2. Elsner, Benjamin, 2013. "Emigration and wages: The EU enlargement experiment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 154-163.
    3. Ousman Gajigo & Audrey Verdier‐Chouchane, 2014. "Working Paper 203 - Immigrants, Skills and Wages in the Gambian Labor Market," Working Paper Series 2134, African Development Bank.
    4. Giulia BETTIN & Alessia LO TURCO, 2009. "A Cross Country View On South-North Migration And Trade," Working Papers 331, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    5. Alan Barrett & Adele Bergin & Elish Kelly & Seamus McGuinness, 2016. "Ireland’s Recession and the Immigrant-Native Earnings Gap," Springer Books, in: Martin Kahanec & Klaus F. Zimmermann (ed.), Labor Migration, EU Enlargement, and the Great Recession, pages 103-122, Springer.
    6. Benjamin Elsner, 2010. "Does Emigration Benefit the Stayers? The EU Enlargement as a Natural Experiment. Evidence from Lithuania," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp326, IIIS.
    7. Alan Barrett & Yvonne McCarthy, 2007. "Immigrants in a Booming Economy: Analysing Their Earnings and Welfare Dependence," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 21(4‐5), pages 789-808, December.
    8. Poot, Jacques & Stillman, Steven, 2010. "The Importance of Heterogeneity When Examining Immigrant Education-Occupation Mismatch: Evidence from New Zealand," IZA Discussion Papers 5211, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Alan Ahearne & Herbert Brücker & Zsolt Darvas & Jakob von Weizsäcker, 2009. "Cyclical dimensions of labour mobility after EU Enlargement," Working Papers 305, Bruegel.
    10. Alan Barrett & Elish Kelly, 2008. "Using a Census to Assess the Reliability of a National Household Survey for Migration Research: The Case of Ireland," Papers WP253, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    11. Simón, Hipólito & Ramos, Raul & Sanromá, Esteban, 2011. "Occupational Mobility of Immigrants in a Low Skilled Economy: The Spanish Case," IZA Discussion Papers 5581, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
    12. Alan Barrett & Eilish Kelly, 2008. "How Reliable is the Quarterly National Household Survey for Migration Research?," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 39(3), pages 191-205.
    13. Carsten Pohl, 2007. "EU-Osterweiterung und Arbeitnehmerfreizügigkeit : Erfahrungen aus Großbritannien und Implikationen für Deutschland," ifo Dresden berichtet, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 14(05), pages .38-44, October.
    14. Carsten Pohl, 2007. "EU-Osterweiterung und Arbeitnehmerfreizügigkeit : Erfahrungen aus Großbritannien und Implikationen für Deutschland," ifo Dresden berichtet, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 14(05), pages 38-44, October.
    15. Alan Barrett & Adele Bergin, 2009. "Estimating the Impact of Immigration in Ireland," Nordic Journal of Political Economy, Nordic Journal of Political Economy, vol. 35, pages 1-2.
    16. Sarah Voitchovsky & Bertrand Maitre & Brian Nolan, 2012. "Wage Inequality in Ireland’s “Celtic Tiger” Boom," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 43(1), pages 99-133.
    17. Alan Barrett & Séamus McGuinness & Martin O’Brien & Philip O’Connell, 2013. "Immigrants and Employer-provided Training," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 52-78, March.
    18. Philip J. O’Connell & Corona Joyce, 2013. "International Migration in Ireland, 2012," Working Papers 201304, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    19. Gillian Kingston & Frances McGinnity & Philip J. O’Connell, 2013. "Discrimination in the Irish Labour Market: Nationality, Ethnicity and the Recession," Working Papers 201323, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    20. Javier Silvestre & Vicente Pinilla & Mª Isabel Ayuda, 2011. "The Labor Market Integration of Migrants: Barcelona, 1930," Economic Reports 02-2011, FEDEA.
    21. Peter Mühlau, 2012. "Occupational and Earnings Mobility of Polish Migrants in Ireland in the Recession," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp413, IIIS.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    immigrants; labour market integration; Ireland;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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