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Wage and Occupational Assimilation by Skill Level

Author

Listed:
  • Alcobendas, Miguel Angel

    (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

  • Rodríguez-Planas, Núria

    (Queens College, CUNY)

  • Vegas, Raquel

    (FEDEA, Madrid)

Abstract

While much of the literature on immigrants' assimilation has focused on countries with a large tradition of receiving immigrants and with flexible labor markets, very little is known on how immigrants adjust to other types of host economies. With its severe dual labor market, and an unprecedented immigration boom, Spain presents a quite unique experience to analyze immigrations' assimilation process. Using alternative datasets and methodologies, this paper provides evidence of a differential assimilation pattern for low- versus high-skilled immigrants in Spain: our key finding is that having a high-school degree does not give immigrants an advantage in terms occupational or wage assimilation (relative to their native counterparts).

Suggested Citation

  • Alcobendas, Miguel Angel & Rodríguez-Planas, Núria & Vegas, Raquel, 2012. "Wage and Occupational Assimilation by Skill Level," IZA Discussion Papers 6543, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6543
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Núria Rodríguez-Planas, 2012. "Wage and occupational assimilation by skill level: migration policy lessons from Spain," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 1(1), pages 1-20, December.
    2. Balanzó, Rafael de & Rodríguez-Planas, Núria, 2017. "Crisis and Reorganization in Urban Dynamics: The Barcelona Case Study," IZA Discussion Papers 10748, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    education; occupational assimilation; wage assimilation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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