Ethnic groups' income inequality within and across Italian regions

Mussida, Chiara and Parisi, Maria Laura (2017): Ethnic groups' income inequality within and across Italian regions. Published in: Department of Economics and Management Working Paper No. 1/2017 (January 2017): pp. 1-25.

Abstract

The relationship between regional income inequality in Italy and the phenomenon of migration is still under current debate. Policymakers and researchers worry about the process of assimilation of the new entrants, in a country where regional disparities are strong. We provide evidence that regional income disparities apply to ethnic groups of migrants, too, like the group of nationals, but the largest source of inequality is still within region and within group. We address this issue by using the 2009 wave of EUSILC data and the ISTAT CVS data in 2009, the latter offering specific information on households with foreigners/migrants by main ethnic groups. We calculate several indexes of income inequality because of their specific sensitivity to different portions of the Italian income distribution. We also estimate the main determinants of such inequality. Our results suggest that, above all, women with very young children and individuals with secondary education belong to categories with significantly increased income inequality, whereas those highly educated and leaving in the Centre-North of Italy belong to categories with reduced inequality. Regional unemployment is associated to lower inequality, especially among those low-income earners, while higher relative mean regional income pushes inequality upwards

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: regional income inequality, household income inequality, migration, ethnic groups, Italy
• Subjects: D - Microeconomics > D3 - Distribution > D31 - Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions; F - International Economics > F2 - International Factor Movements and International Business > F22 - International Migration; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O15 - Human Resources ; Human Development ; Income Distribution ; Migration; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R2 - Household Analysis > R23 - Regional Migration ; Regional Labor Markets ; Population ; Neighborhood Characteristics

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