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Opening the Labor Market to Qualified Immigrants in Absence of Linguistic Barriers

Author

Listed:
  • Gatti, Nicolò

    (USI Università della Svizzera Italiana)

  • Mazzonna, Fabrizio

    (USI Università della Svizzera Italiana)

  • Parchet, Raphaël

    (USI Università della Svizzera Italiana)

  • Pica, Giovanni

    (USI Università della Svizzera Italiana)

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of opening the labor market to qualified immigrants who hold fully equivalent diplomas with respect to natives and speak the same mother tongue. Leveraging the 2002 opening of the Swiss labor market to qualified workers from the European Union, we show that the policy change led to a large inflow of young immigrants with the same linguistic background as natives. This, in turn, produced heterogeneous effects on natives wages and employment. While incumbent workers experienced a wage gain and a decrease in the likelihood of becoming inactive, the opposite happened for young natives entering the labor market after the policy change. This is likely the result of different patterns of complementarity/substitutability between same-language immigrants and natives with different levels of labor market experience.

Suggested Citation

  • Gatti, Nicolò & Mazzonna, Fabrizio & Parchet, Raphaël & Pica, Giovanni, 2022. "Opening the Labor Market to Qualified Immigrants in Absence of Linguistic Barriers," IZA Discussion Papers 15631, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15631
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    Cited by:

    1. Elena Gentili & Fabrizio Mazzonna, 2024. "What drives the substitutability between native and foreign workers? Evidence about the role of language," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 91(361), pages 210-237, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    worker substitutability; wage effects; qualified immigration; experience;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J08 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics Policies
    • 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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