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Occupational Adjustment of Immigrants

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  • Zorlu, Aslan

    (University of Amsterdam)

Abstract

This paper examines the speed of the occupational adjustment of immigrants using Labour Force Surveys 2004 and 2005 from Statistics Netherlands. The analysis provides new evidence that immigrants start with jobs at the lower levels of skill distribution. Their occupational achievement improves significantly with the duration of residence. The extent of this initial disadvantage and the rate of adjustment vary across immigrant groups according to the transferability of skills associated with their cultural and linguistic distance from Dutch society as predicted by the theory of immigrant occupational mobility. Most notably, Turks and Moroccans face the greatest initial dip and achieve the highest rate of adjustment while the opposite holds for Caribbean and Western immigrants. Our results are robust to three alternative measures of occupational status.

Suggested Citation

  • Zorlu, Aslan, 2011. "Occupational Adjustment of Immigrants," IZA Discussion Papers 6147, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6147
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Chiswick, Barry R. & Miller, Paul W., 2008. "Why is the payoff to schooling smaller for immigrants?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(6), pages 1317-1340, December.
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    8. Pia Orrenius & Madeline Zavodny, 2009. "Do immigrants work in riskier jobs?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 46(3), pages 535-551, August.
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    11. Barry R. Chiswick & Yew Liang Lee & Paul W. Miller, 2002. "Longitudinal Analysis of Immigrant Occupational Mobility: A Test of the Immigrant Assimilation Hypothesis," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 02-08, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    12. Chiswick, Barry R, 1978. "The Effect of Americanization on the Earnings of Foreign-born Men," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 86(5), pages 897-921, October.
    13. Aldashev, Alisher & Gernandt, Johannes & Thomsen, Stephan L., 2009. "Language usage, participation, employment and earnings: Evidence for foreigners in West Germany with multiple sources of selection," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 330-341, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Aslan Zorlu & Ruben Gaalen, 2016. "Leaving Home and Destination of Early Nest Leavers: Ethnicity, Spaces and Prices," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 32(2), pages 267-291, May.
    2. Aslan Zorlu, 2016. "Immigrants’ occupational mobility—Down and back up again," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 290-290, August.
    3. Mari Kangasniemi & Merja Kauhanen, 2013. "Characteristics and labour market performance of the new member state (NMS12) immigrants in Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom," Norface Discussion Paper Series 2013002, Norface Research Programme on Migration, Department of Economics, University College London.
    4. Polyakova, Evgeniya & Smirnykh, Larisa, 2016. "The earning differential between natives and individuals with immigrant background in Russia: The role of ethnicity," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 43, pages 52-72.
    5. Zorlu, Aslan & Mulder, Clara H. & van Gaalen, Ruben, 2014. "Ethnic disparities in the transition to home ownership," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 151-163.
    6. Duleep, Harriet & Liu, Xingfei & Regets, Mark, 2014. "Country of Origin and Immigrant Earnings, 1960-2000: A Human Capital Investment Perspective," IZA Discussion Papers 8628, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Chiswick, Barry R. & Wang, Zhiling, 2016. "Social Contacts, Dutch Language Proficiency and Immigrant Economic Performance in the Netherlands: A Longitudinal Study," IZA Discussion Papers 9760, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Merja Kauhanen & Mari Kangasniemi, 2012. "Characteristics and labour market performance of the new member state immigrants in Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom after the enlargement of 2004," Working Papers 283, Työn ja talouden tutkimus LABORE, The Labour Institute for Economic Research LABORE.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    ethnic minorities; quality of jobs;

    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

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