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How integrated are immigrants?

Author

Listed:
  • Rickard Sandell

    (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid)

  • Pierluigi Contucci

    (Università di Bologna (UNIBO))

Abstract

Background: The successful integration of immigrants is seen as a principal means to secure economic growth and welfare in many countries. Success in this task depends on the capacity to formulate effective integration policies, which in turn is based on research capable of describing and explaining the integration process properly. Objective: Our objective is to define a conceptual and quantifiable measure of full immigrant integration. This enables a quantitative evaluation of how integrated immigrants are in a specific context in an immigrant - native system - a question poorly addressed by past research. Methods: Our approach consists of looking at the functional dependency of different integration quantifiers on immigrant density. The empirical analysis uses register data from Spain. We focus on social integration and labour market integration in formal employment. Results: In our empirical analysis we find dramatic differences in immigrant integration levels across integration contexts. While labour market integration approaches the level of full integration, social integration quickly declines as immigration levels surge. It is shown that these differences are primarily due to the presence of social network effects in the social integration process, absent in the labour market integration process. Conclusions: Proper identification of integration deficits and its causes is likely to improve the efficiency of integration policy making, and the capacity to reach integration targets. Our framework has this quality. The research presented here shows that full labour market integration of immigrants is a realistic target. However, it also shows that, if left unattended, the segregation forces contained in social networks, quite dramatically obstruct the social integration process. Lack of social integration undermines the strategy of reliance on increasing immigration to secure future economic well-being that many governments and international organizations are in the process of adopting.

Suggested Citation

  • Rickard Sandell & Pierluigi Contucci, 2015. "How integrated are immigrants?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 33(46), pages 1271-1280.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:33:y:2015:i:46
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2015.33.46
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Daniel McFadden, 2001. "Economic Choices," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(3), pages 351-378, June.
    2. William A. Brock & Steven N. Durlauf, 2001. "Discrete Choice with Social Interactions," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 68(2), pages 235-260.
    3. Zhenchao Qian & Jennifer Glick & Christie Batson, 2012. "Crossing Boundaries: Nativity, Ethnicity, and Mate Selection," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(2), pages 651-675, May.
    4. Pierluigi Contucci & Stefano Ghirlanda, 2007. "Modeling society with statistical mechanics: an application to cultural contact and immigration," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 41(4), pages 569-578, August.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Adela Zubikova, 2021. "Assessment of the Immigrants Integration Level in the New Member States of the EU in 2009–2018," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 635-652, June.
    2. Vahan Sargsyan, 2018. "Social Integration of Immigrants and the Attitude of the Native Population in European Countries," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp629, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    3. Elena Agliari & Adriano Barra & Pierluigi Contucci & Andrea Pizzoferrato & Cecilia Vernia, 2018. "Social interaction effects on immigrant integration," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 4(1), pages 1-8, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    integration; intermarriage; immigration; social networks; social interaction; interpartnership; labor market integration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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