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Do informal Networks Increase Migrants’ Over-Education? Comparing Over-Education for Natives, Migrants and Second Generations in Italy and Assessing the Role of Networks in Generating It

Author

Listed:
  • Pierre Georges Van Wolleghem

    (University of Bergen)

  • Marina De Angelis

    (INAPP, Italian National Institute for the Analysis of Public Policies, Corso d’Italia)

  • Sergio Scicchitano

    (INAPP, Italian National Institute for the Analysis of Public Policies, Corso d’Italia
    Global Labor Organization (GLO))

Abstract

Whilst migration has become a structural feature of most European countries, the integration of foreigners in the labour market continues to raise concerns. Evidence across countries shows that migrants are more often over-educated than natives. Over the last few years, scholarship has intended to capture the effect of informal networks on migrants’ over-education. Interestingly, no study has looked into the Italian case, a country for which the effect of networks on education-occupation mismatch is well documented. This article has two objectives: it assesses the extent to which over-education affects migrants and it evaluates the role informal networks play in producing it. We find that migrants have a higher probability of being over-educated than natives and second-generation migrants. Likewise, we find little evidence of a differentiated effect of networks as they tend to increase migrants’ over-education whilst decreasing it for natives and second-generation migrants. Empirical evidence is drawn from the application of causal inference modelling to PLUS 2018—Participation, Labour, Unemployment Survey.

Suggested Citation

  • Pierre Georges Van Wolleghem & Marina De Angelis & Sergio Scicchitano, 2023. "Do informal Networks Increase Migrants’ Over-Education? Comparing Over-Education for Natives, Migrants and Second Generations in Italy and Assessing the Role of Networks in Generating It," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 9(1), pages 175-197, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:italej:v:9:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s40797-022-00184-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s40797-022-00184-5
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Informal networks; Over-education; Migrants; Second-generation migrants; Labour market; Propensity score matching; Inverse probability weighting;
    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
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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