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Wage and basic skills inequality between immigrants by immigration admission categories and Canadian non-immigrants

Author

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  • Richard E. Mueller

    (University of Lethbridge)

  • N. T. Khuong Truong

    (Curtin University)

Abstract

Using the 2012 Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), we explore differences in literacy and numeracy skills, and the economic returns to these skills, for Canadian immigrants and non-immigrants. The novelty of this research is disaggregating the sample into seven distinct immigrant groups (based on admission class) and second- and third-generation Canadians. Our results show that no immigrant group performs as well on literacy and numeracy tests compared to those born in Canada, but that young immigrants do outperform adult immigrants. Similar results are found for wages, our metric for success in the labour market. Of the immigrant subgroups, economic immigrants tend to have the highest test scores and hourly wages, with refugees having the lowest. The wage returns to these basic skills are economically significant across all quantiles. Finally, we find that the labour market rewards literacy or numeracy skills equally for immigrants and the Canadian-born.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard E. Mueller & N. T. Khuong Truong, 2022. "Wage and basic skills inequality between immigrants by immigration admission categories and Canadian non-immigrants," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 62(4), pages 1833-1884, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:empeco:v:62:y:2022:i:4:d:10.1007_s00181-021-02084-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s00181-021-02084-6
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Canada; Immigrants; Second generation; Literacy; Numeracy; PIAAC; J15; J24; J31; J61;
    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
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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