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The cost of immigrants’ occupational mismatch and the effectiveness of postarrival policies in Canada

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  • Yigit Aydede

    (Saint Mary’s University)

  • Atul Dar

    (Saint Mary’s University)

Abstract

Using the 2006 Census, we create a continuous index that quantifies the relatedness between 1375 fields of study and 520 occupations for native-born workers and use it as the benchmark reflecting the “common” matching quality in Canadian labor markets that internationally educated immigrant workers could achieve in the long run. This allows us to approximate the cost of the occupational mismatch of immigrants by estimating the change in their earnings had they been distributed identically to the native born in terms of relatedness. Although the results show a significant and persistent poor matching quality for foreign-educated immigrants, their relative underutilization cost is negligible. Jel codes: J6, J15, J61

Suggested Citation

  • Yigit Aydede & Atul Dar, 2016. "The cost of immigrants’ occupational mismatch and the effectiveness of postarrival policies in Canada," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-23, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:izamig:v:5:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1186_s40176-016-0057-z
    DOI: 10.1186/s40176-016-0057-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    12. repec:fth:prinin:425 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Casey Warman & Christopher Worswick, 2015. "Technological change, occupational tasks and declining immigrant outcomes: Implications for earnings and income inequality in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(2), pages 736-772, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Yigit Aydede & Atul Dar, 2017. "Is the lower return to immigrants’ foreign schooling a postarrival problem in Canada?," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-25, December.
    2. Ameed Saabneh & Rebbeca Tesfai, 2021. "Does Immigrant Selection Policy Matter? Labor Market Integration of Ethiopian Immigrants in Israel and the United States," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(5), pages 955-985, October.
    3. Aydede, Yigit & Dar, Atul A., 2022. "Native-born-immigrant wage gap revisited: The role of market imperfections in Canada," CLEF Working Paper Series 50, Canadian Labour Economics Forum (CLEF), University of Waterloo.
    4. Susumu Imai & Derek Stacey & Casey Warman, 2019. "From engineer to taxi driver? Language proficiency and the occupational skills of immigrants," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 52(3), pages 914-953, August.
    5. Samuel Vézina & Alain Bélanger, 2020. "Literacy Skills as an Explanation for Labor Market Imbalances by Occupational Type in Canada: Microsimulation Projections for 2014–2024," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(6), pages 1019-1049, December.
    6. Aydede Yigit, 2020. "Assortative preferences in choice of major," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 9(1), pages 1-25, March.

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