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Are Immigrants' Earnings Influenced by the Characteristics of Their Neighbours?

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  • Sako Musterd

    (Department of Geography, Planning and International Development Studies, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Prinsengracht 130, 1018 VZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Roger Andersson

    (Institute for Housing and Urban Research, Uppsala University, PO Box 785, SE-801 29 Gävle, Sweden)

  • George Galster

    (Department of Geography and Urban Planning, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA)

  • Timo M Kauppinen

    (Department of Sociology, University of Helsinki, PO Box 18, FIN-00014 Helsinki, Finland)

Abstract

Differences in immigrant economic trajectories have been attributed to a wide variety of factors. One of these is the local spatial context where immigrants reside. This spatial context assumes special salience in light of expanding public exposure to and scholarly interest in the potential impacts of spatial concentrations of immigrants. A crucial question is whether immigrants' opportunities are influenced by their neighbours. In this paper we contribute statistical evidence relevant to answering this vital question. We develop multiple measures of the spatial context in which immigrants reside and assess their contribution to the average earnings of immigrant individuals in the three large Swedish metropolitan areas, controlling for individual and regional labour-market characteristics. We use unusually rich longitudinal information about Swedish immigrants during the 1995–2002 period. We find evidence that immigrant men and women paid a substantial penalty during 1999–2002 if in 1999 they resided in areas where a substantial number of their neighbours were members of the same ethnic group. The evidence suggests that own-group concentrations can initially pay dividends for immigrants, but these benefits quickly turn into net disadvantages over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Sako Musterd & Roger Andersson & George Galster & Timo M Kauppinen, 2008. "Are Immigrants' Earnings Influenced by the Characteristics of Their Neighbours?," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 40(4), pages 785-805, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:40:y:2008:i:4:p:785-805
    DOI: 10.1068/a39107
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kenneth Clark & Stephen Drinkwater, 2002. "Enclaves, neighbourhood effects and employment outcomes: Ethnic minorities in England and Wales," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 15(1), pages 5-29.
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    Cited by:

    1. Fenne M. Pinkster, 2014. "Neighbourhood Effects as Indirect Effects: Evidence from a Dutch Case Study on the Significance of Neighbourhood for Employment Trajectories," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(6), pages 2042-2059, November.
    2. Platt, Lucinda & Nandi, Alita & Knies, Gundi, 2014. "Life satisfaction, ethnicity and neighbourhoods: is there an effect of neighbourhood ethnic composition on life satisfaction?," ISER Working Paper Series 2014-08, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    3. Juliet Carpenter, 2018. "‘Social Mix’ as ‘Sustainability Fix’? Exploring Social Sustainability in the French Suburbs," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 3(4), pages 29-37.
    4. Öner, Özge & Klaesson, Johan, 2018. "Getting the First Job – Size and Quality of Ethnic Enclaves for Refugee Labor Market Entry," Working Paper Series 1256, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    5. Lobo, José & Mellander, Charlotta, 2019. "Let’s Stick Together: Labor Market Effects from Immigrant Neighborhood Clustering," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 475, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    6. Dangschat, Jens S. & Alisch, Monika, 2014. "Soziale Mischung: Die Lösung von Integrationsherausforderungen?," Forschungsberichte der ARL: Aufsätze, in: Gans, Paul (ed.), Räumliche Auswirkungen der internationalen Migration, volume 3, pages 200-218, ARL – Akademie für Raumentwicklung in der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft.
    7. Vaalavuo, Maria & van Ham, Maarten & Kauppinen, Timo M., 2017. "Income Increase and Moving to a Better Neighbourhood: An Enquiry into Ethnic Differences in Finland," IZA Discussion Papers 11076, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Scheller, Friedrich, 2017. "The ambiguous role of ethnic context: A multi-level analysis of the relationship between group size and labor market integration of three immigrant groups in Germany," Duisburger Beiträge zur soziologischen Forschung 2017-03, University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute of Sociology.

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