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Immigration and Labor Productivity: New Empirical Evidence for Spain

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  • Nicodemo, Catia

    (University of Oxford)

Abstract

The purpose of this paper of this paper is to explore the immigration and productivity in Spain. We estimate the effect of immigration on labor productivity from 2004 until 2008 for Spain. Using firms (SABI) and individuals data (Social Security Records) we calculate the effect by sector and municipality for the two big Spanish provinces that have received most immigrants in the last decade: Barcelona and Madrid. After controlling for endogeneity of immigration, the results demonstrate that immigration have a negative effect on productivity. Education and occupation are both variables with a positive effect on productivity, while permanent, public or full time contracts do not have any effect. Type of immigration, Europeans 15 (more skill) versus no European, is not relevant in explain the negative productivity. This fact is due that firms are very heterogenous across them and use their employees under their real production potential.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicodemo, Catia, 2013. "Immigration and Labor Productivity: New Empirical Evidence for Spain," IZA Discussion Papers 7297, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7297
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Elena Grinza & Stephan Kampelmann & François Rycx, 2020. "L’union fait la force? Evidence for wage discrimination in firms with high diversity," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 18(2), pages 181-211, June.
    2. Stephan Kampelmann & François Rycx, 2016. "Wage discrimination against immigrants: measurement with firm-level productivity data," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-24, December.
    3. Brunello, Giorgio & Lodigiani, Elisabetta & Rocco, Lorenzo, 2020. "Does low-skilled immigration increase profits? Evidence from Italian local labour markets," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    4. Alessandra Michelangeli & Nicola Pontarollo & Giuseppe Vittucci Marzetti, 2019. "Ethnic minority concentration: A source of productivity growth for Italian provinces?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 98(1), pages 17-34, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    immigration; labor productivity; Spain; MCVL; SABI;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

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