IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/labour/v33y2019i1p48-76.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Naturalization and labor market performance of immigrants in Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Regina T. Riphahn
  • Salwan Saif

Abstract

Naturalization may be a relevant policy instrument affecting immigrant integration in host‐country labor markets. We study the effect of naturalization on labor market outcomes of immigrants in Germany. We apply recent survey data and exploit a reform of naturalization rules in an instrumental variable estimation. In our sample of recent immigrants, linear regression yields positive correlations between naturalization and beneficial labor market outcomes. Once we account for the endogeneity of naturalization, most coefficients decline in magnitude and lose statistical significance: male immigrants’ labor market outcomes do not benefit significantly from naturalization. Naturalization reduces the risks of unemployment and welfare dependence for female immigrants. For males and females, the propensity to hold a permanent contract increases as a consequence of naturalization. The results are robust to modifications of samples and the instrument.

Suggested Citation

  • Regina T. Riphahn & Salwan Saif, 2019. "Naturalization and labor market performance of immigrants in Germany," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 33(1), pages 48-76, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:labour:v:33:y:2019:i:1:p:48-76
    DOI: 10.1111/labr.12136
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/labr.12136
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/labr.12136?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christina Gathmann & Nicolas Keller, 2018. "Access to Citizenship and the Economic Assimilation of Immigrants," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(616), pages 3141-3181, December.
    2. Ciro Avitabile & Irma Clots-Figueras & Paolo Masella, 2013. "The Effect of Birthright Citizenship on Parental Integration Outcomes," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(3), pages 777-810.
    3. Saurer, Judith & Felfe, Christina, 2014. "Granting Birthright Citizenship - A Door Opener for Immigrant Children's Educational Participation and Success?," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100548, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    4. Christoph Sajons, 2016. "Does granting citizenship to immigrant children affect family outmigration?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(2), pages 395-420, April.
    5. Friederike von Haaren-Giebel & Malte Sandner, 2016. "Naturalisation and on-the-job training: evidence from first-generation immigrants in Germany," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-28, December.
    6. Bernt Bratsberg & James F. Ragan & Zafar M. Nasir, 2002. "The Effect of Naturalization on Wage Growth: A Panel Study of Young Male Immigrants," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(3), pages 568-597, July.
    7. Sajons, Christoph & Clots-Figueras, Irma, 2014. "Birthright citizenship and education - Do immigrant children need a passport to thrive?," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100470, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    8. DeVoretz, Don J. & Irastorza, Nahikari, 2017. "Economic Theories of Citizenship?," IZA Discussion Papers 10495, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kerstin Bruckmeier & Regina T. Riphahn & Jürgen Wiemers, 2021. "Misreporting of program take-up in survey data and its consequences for measuring non-take-up: new evidence from linked administrative and survey data," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 1567-1616, September.
    2. García-Suaza, Andrés & Mondragón-Mayo, Angie & Sarango-Iturralde, Alexander, 2024. "Occupational downgrading of Venezuelan migrants in Colombia: Do work permits Improve occupational mobility?," Documentos de Trabajo 21028, Universidad del Rosario.
    3. Jacobsen, Jannes & Krieger, Magdalena & Schikora, Felicitas & Schupp, Jürgen, 2021. "Growing Potentials for Migration Research using the German Socio-Economic Panel Study," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 241(4), pages 527-549.
    4. Giesecke, Matthias & Schuß, Eric, 2019. "Heterogeneity in marginal returns to language training of immigrants," IAB-Discussion Paper 201919, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    5. Bruckmeier, Kerstin & Riphahn, Regina T. & Wiemers, Jürgen, 2019. "Benefit underreporting in survey data and its consequences for measuring non-take-up: new evidence from linked administrative and survey data," IAB-Discussion Paper 201906, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    6. Nils Braakmann, 2021. "Immigration Status Uncertainty and Mental Health—Evidence from Brexit," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(4), pages 521-548, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Felfe, Christina & Kocher, Martin G. & Rainer, Helmut & Saurer, Judith & Siedler, Thomas, 2021. "More opportunity, more cooperation? The behavioral effects of birthright citizenship on immigrant youth," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    2. Gathmann, Christina & Garbers, Julio, 2023. "Citizenship and integration," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    3. Gordon B Dahl & Christina Felfe & Paul Frijters & Helmut Rainer, 2022. "Caught between Cultures: Unintended Consequences of Improving Opportunity for Immigrant Girls," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 89(5), pages 2491-2528.
    4. Sajons, Christoph, 2019. "Birthright citizenship and parental labor market integration," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1-22.
    5. Hannah Zillessen, 2022. "Uncertainty, Citizenship & Migrant Saving Choices," Economics Series Working Papers 1008, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    6. Nils Braakmann, 2021. "Immigration Status Uncertainty and Mental Health—Evidence from Brexit," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(4), pages 521-548, October.
    7. Christina Felfe & Judith Saurer, 2014. "Granting Birthright Citizenship - A Door Opener for Immigrant Children's Educational Participation and Success," CESifo Working Paper Series 4959, CESifo.
    8. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Gratereaux Hernández, Carlos & Pozo, Susan, 2017. "On the Implications of Immigration Policy Restricting Citizenship: Evidence from the Dominican Republic," IZA Discussion Papers 10602, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Friedericke von Haaren-Giebel, 2016. "Naturalisation and Investments in Children's Human Capital: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 854, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    10. von Haaren-Giebel, Friederike, 2016. "Naturalisation and Investments in Children's Human Capital: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-576, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
    11. Christina Gathmann & Ole Monscheuer & Christina Felfe & Helmut Rainer & Swantje Falcke & Paolo Pinotti & Graziella Bertocchi & Chiara Strozzi, 2020. "Einbürgerung (junger) Migranten: Katalysator oder Belohnung für gelungene Integration?," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 73(11), pages 03-24, November.
    12. Christina Felfe de Ormeño & Helmut Rainer, 2020. "Intended and Unintended Consequences of Birthright Citizenship," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 21(04), pages 14-18, November.
    13. Christina Felfe & Judith Saurer & Anita Fichtl & Anita Dietrich, 2015. "Deutsch ab Geburt: Einfluss von Staatsangehörigkeit auf Bildungsbeteiligung und Bildungserfolg," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 68(24), pages 17-22, December.
    14. Christina Gathmann & Ole Monscheuer, 2020. "Naturalization and citizenship: Who benefits?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 125-125, April.
    15. repec:ces:ifodic:v:15:y:2017:i:2:p:44-47 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Ann-Marie Sommerfeld, 2023. "The Effect of Schooling on Parental Integration," Jena Economics Research Papers 2023-018, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    17. Claudio Deiana & Ludovica Giua & Roberto Nisticò, 2021. "Getting Off on the Wrong Foot: The Long-Term Effects of Missing a Large-Scale Amnesty for Immigrant Workers," CSEF Working Papers 625, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.
    18. Tommaso Frattini, 2017. "Integration of immigrants in host countries - what we know and what works," Development Working Papers 427, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano.
    19. Christina Gathmann & Nicolas Keller, 2014. "Returns to Citizenship?: Evidence from Germany's Recent Immigration Reforms," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 656, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    20. repec:ces:ifodic:v:15:y:2017:i:2:p:19337565 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Holger Stichnoth, 2013. "Reference standards for income comparisons: evidence from immigrants' return visits," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 33(4), pages 2707-2717.
    22. Kai Ingwersen & Stephan L. Thomsen, 2021. "The immigrant-native wage gap in Germany revisited," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 19(4), pages 825-854, December.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • C26 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Instrumental Variables (IV) Estimation

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:labour:v:33:y:2019:i:1:p:48-76. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/csrotit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.