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Social Capital and Immigrants' Labour Market Performance

Author

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  • Piracha, Matloob

    (University of Kent)

  • Tani, Massimiliano

    (University of New South Wales)

  • Vaira-Lucero, Matias

    (Macquarie University, Sydney)

Abstract

This paper analyses the role of social capital on immigrants' labour market outcomes. We use the "principal component analysis" (PCA) to build an index of social networks and explore its impact on the probability of getting a job and on wage levels using the Households Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) longitudinal survey data. We find a positive effect of social capital on migrants' employment outcomes and wages, especially for women. Distinguishing employment into blue and white-collar jobs, we find that social capital only affects the probability of getting a white-collar job. These results suggest that promoting opportunities to create social capital has a beneficial effect on migrants' integration in the host country.

Suggested Citation

  • Piracha, Matloob & Tani, Massimiliano & Vaira-Lucero, Matias, 2013. "Social Capital and Immigrants' Labour Market Performance," IZA Discussion Papers 7274, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7274
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    Cited by:

    1. Tani, Massimiliano, 2017. "Local signals and the returns to foreign education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 174-190.
    2. Arnaud Herault, 2019. "Occupational mismatch and network effects: Evidence from France," Post-Print hal-02860048, HAL.
    3. Petroula Liltsi & Anastasios Michailidis & Efstratios Loizou & Fotios Chatzitheodoridis, 2020. "The impact of social capital on the immigrants` integration alongside the Rural-Urban Continuum: Evidence from Greece," Asian Journal of Agriculture and rural Development, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 10(1), pages 1-8, June.
    4. Bonin, Holger & Rinne, Ulf, 2017. "Machbarkeitsstudie zur Durchführung einer Evaluation der arbeitsmarktpolitischen Integrationsmaßnahmen für Flüchtlinge," IZA Research Reports 76, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Arnaud Herault, 2019. "Occupational mismatch and network effects: Evidence from France," Post-Print hal-02860040, HAL.
    6. Angela Paparusso, 2019. "Studying Immigrant Integration Through Self-Reported Life Satisfaction in the Country of Residence," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 14(2), pages 479-505, April.
    7. Slater, Giulia, 2024. "The effects of social capital deprivation for wellbeing: Evidence from the Covid-19 pandemic," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    8. Xingang Wang & Sholeh A. Maani, 2021. "Ethnic regional networks and immigrants' earnings: A spatial autoregressive network approach," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 100(1), pages 141-168, February.
    9. Petroula Liltsi & Ioanna Apostolidou & Anastasios Michailidis, 2019. "Socioeconomic typologies of immigrants integration: The case of Thessaloniki Prefecture," Agricultural Economics Review, Greek Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 20(2), January.
    10. Eleni Kalfa & Matloob Piracha, 2018. "Social networks and the labour market mismatch," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(3), pages 877-914, July.
    11. Xingang Wang & Sholeh A. Maani & Alan Rogers, 2021. "Economic Network Effects and Immigrant Earnings," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 97(316), pages 78-99, March.
    12. 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).
    13. Andrés Niembro & Jésica Sarmiento, 2021. "Regional development gaps in Argentina: A multidimensional approach to identify the location of policy priorities," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(4), pages 1297-1327, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Australia; HILDA survey; social capital; labour market; immigrants;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • 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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