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Language fluency and immigrant employment prospects: evidence from Britain's ethnic minorities

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  • M. A. Shields
  • S. Wheatley Price

Abstract

Using data from the Fourth National Survey of Ethnic Minorities, the determinants of location-specific language capital and its impact upon the employment prospects of male and female ethnic minority immigrants in Britain are investigated. It is found that lack of English language fluency reduces average predicted employment probabilities by 20-25 percentage points. Increasing the provision of English language training directly or indirectly, by requiring immigrants to obtain UK qualifications, would go a long way to eliminating the 10% employment gap between Britain's white and ethnic minority communities.

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  • M. A. Shields & S. Wheatley Price, 2001. "Language fluency and immigrant employment prospects: evidence from Britain's ethnic minorities," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(11), pages 741-745.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:apeclt:v:8:y:2001:i:11:p:741-745
    DOI: 10.1080/13504850010038678
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    7. Michael Shields & Stephen Wheatley Price, 1999. "Ethnic differences in British employer-funded on and off-the-job training," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(7), pages 421-429.
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    Cited by:

    1. Philip J O'Connell, 2018. "Why Are So Few Africans at Work in Ireland? Immigration Policy and Labour Market Disadvantage," Working Papers 201816, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    2. Heaven Crawley, 2009. "The Situation of Children in Immigrant Families in the United Kingdom," Papers inwopa579, Innocenti Working Papers.
    3. Burton, Jonathan & Nandi, Alita & Platt, Lucinda, 2008. "Who are the UK's minority ethnic groups? Issues of identification and measurement in a longitudinal study," ISER Working Paper Series 2008-26, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    4. Michael Landesmann & Sandra M. Leitner, 2019. "Various Domains of Integration of Refugees and their Interrelationships: A Study of Recent Refugee Inflows in Austria," wiiw Working Papers 168, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    5. Martin Kahanec & Klaus F. Zimmermann (ed.), 2011. "Ethnic Diversity in European Labor Markets," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13572.
    6. Santiago Budría & Alberto Colino & Carlos Martínez de Ibarreta, 2019. "The impact of host language proficiency on employment outcomes among immigrants in Spain," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 46(4), pages 625-652, November.
    7. Hock‐Eam Lim & Judith Rich & Mark N. Harris, 2008. "Employment Outcomes of Graduates: The Case of Universiti Utara, Malaysia," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 22(3), pages 321-341, September.
    8. Bonin, Holger & Rinne, Ulf, 2017. "Machbarkeitsstudie zur Durchführung einer Evaluation der arbeitsmarktpolitischen Integrationsmaßnahmen für Flüchtlinge," IZA Research Reports 76, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Bedaso, Fenet, 2021. "The Labor Market Integration of Refugees and other Migrants in Germany," GLO Discussion Paper Series 884, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    10. Collier, William & Vickerman, Roger, 2002. "Cross-border activity in the Kent - Nord-Pas de Calais - Belgium Euroregion: some comparative evidence on the location and recruitment decisions of internationally mobile firms," ERSA conference papers ersa02p082, European Regional Science Association.
    11. Budría, Santiago & Martínez de Ibarreta, Carlos, 2020. "Educational and Skills Mismatches among Immigrants: The Impact of Host Language Proficiency," IZA Discussion Papers 13030, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Hatton, Timothy J. & Wheatley Price, Stephen, 1998. "Migration, Migrants and Policy in the United Kingdom," CEPR Discussion Papers 1960, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. Frijters, Paul & Shields, Michael A. & Wheatley Price, Stephen, 2003. "Immigrant Job Search in the UK: Evidence from Panel Data," IZA Discussion Papers 902, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Timothy J. Hatton, 2011. "The Social and Labor Market Outcomes of Ethnic Minorities in the UK," Chapters, in: Martin Kahanec & Klaus F. Zimmermann (ed.), Ethnic Diversity in European Labor Markets, chapter 13, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. José Antonio Alonso & Rodolfo Gutiérrez, 2010. "Lengua y emigración: España y el español en las migraciones internacionales," Documentos de Trabajo del Instituto Complutense de Estudios Internacionales 14-10, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Instituto Complutense de Estudios Internacionales.
    16. Budría, Santiago & Martínez-de-Ibarreta, Carlos, 2021. "Education and skill mismatches among immigrants: The impact of host language proficiency," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    17. Cortes, Kalena E., 2004. "Are Refugees Different from Economic Immigrants? Some Empirical Evidence on the Heterogeneity of Immigrant Groups in the United States," IZA Discussion Papers 1063, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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