From guests to hosts: a first whole picture of immigrant-native wage differentials in Spain

Muñoz de Bustillo, Rafael and Carrera, Miguel and Antón, José-Ignacio (2009): From guests to hosts: a first whole picture of immigrant-native wage differentials in Spain.

Abstract

This article analyses the immigrant-native wage differentials in Spain, which only recently has become a host country. The paper exploits the Earnings Structure Survey 2006, which is the first nationally representative sample of both foreigner and Spaniard employees. Using the Machado-Mata econometric procedure, wage differentials between locals and foreigners are decomposed into the gap related to characteristics and that due to different returns to endowments (i.e., discrimination). We found that, in absolute terms, the latter component grows across wage distribution, reflecting the existence of a kind of glass ceiling consistent with the evidence of over-education found by previous research.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: immigration; wage differentials; Spain; quantile regression
• Subjects: F - International Economics > F2 - International Factor Movements and International Business > F22 - International Migration; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J7 - Labor Discrimination > J71 - Discrimination

References

Amuedo-Dorantes, C. and De la Rica, S. (2007): “Labor Market Assimilation of Recent Immigrants in Spain”, British Journal of Industrial Relations, 45(2), 257-284.

Arrow, K.J. (1972a): “Models of Job Discrimination”, in A.H. Pascal (ed.) Racial Discrimination in Economic Life, Lexington: D.C. Heath, 83-102.

Arrow, K.J. (1972b): “Some Mathematical Models of Race Discrimination in the Labor Market”, in A.H. Pascal (ed.) Racial Discrimination in Economic Life, Lexington: D.C. Heath, 187-204.

Arrow, K.J. (1973): “The Theory of Discrimination”, in O. Ashenfelter and A. Rees (eds.) Discrimination in Labor Markets, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 3-33.

Arrow, K.J. (1998): “What Has Economics to Say about Racial Discrimination?”, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 12(2), 91-100.

Barth, E. and Dale-Olsen, H. (2009): “Monopsonistic Discrimination, Worker Turnover and the Gender Wage Gap”, IZA Discussion Paper No. 3930.

Becker, G.S. (1957): The Economics of Discrimination, Chicago: Chicago University Press.

Canal-Domínguez, J.F. and Rodríguez-Gutiérrez, C. (2008): “Analysis of wage differences between native and immigrant workers in Spain”, Spanish Economic Review, 10(2), 109-134.

Carrasco, R., Jimeno, J.F. and Ortega, C. (2008): “The effect of immigration on labor market performance of native-born workers: some evidence for Spain”, Journal of Population Economics, 21(3), 627-648.

Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas (CIS) (2006) Barómetro Septiembre 2006, Madrid: CIS.

Chiswick, B., Le, A.T. and Miller, P.W. (2008): “How Immigrants Fare across the Earnings Distribution in Australia and the United States”, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 61(3), 353-373.

De la Rica, S., Dolado, J.J. and Llorens, V. (2008): “Ceilings or floors? Gender wage gaps by education in Spain”, Journal of Population Economics, 21(3), 751-776.

DiNardo, J., Fortin, N.M. and Lemieux, T. (1996): “Labor Market Institutions and the Distribution of Wages, 1973-1992: A Semiparametric Approach”, Econometrica, 64(5), 1001-1044.

Dolado, J.J., Jimeno, J.J. and Duce, R. (1997): “Los efectos de la inmigración sobre la demanda de trabajo cualificado vs. Poco cualificado: evidencia para España”, Cuadernos Económicos del ICE, 64, 11-29. Eurostat (2006): “Non-national populations in the EU Member States”, Statistics in focus, 8/2006.

Fernández, C. and Ortega, C. (2008): “Labor market assimilation of immigrants in Spain: employment at the expense of bad job-matches”, Spanish Economic Review, 10(2), 83-107.

Gardeazábal, J. and Ugidos, A. (2005): “Gender discrimination at quantiles”, Journal of Population Economics, 18(1), 165 -179.

Hammarstedt, M. and Shukur, G. (2006): “Immigrants’ relative earnings in Sweden -a quantile regression approach”, International Journal of Manpower, 28(6), 456-473.

Hammarstedt, M. and Shukur, G. (2006): “Immigrants’ relative earnings in Sweden -a cohort analysis”, Labour, 20(2), 285-323.

Hunt, P. (2008): “Are immigrants so stuck to the floor that the ceiling is irrelevant”, Warwick Economic Research Paper No. 838.

Instituto Nacional de Estadística (2008a): “Encuesta de Estructura Salarial 2006. Metodología”. Available at http://www.ine.es/metodologia/t22/t223013306.pdf [last accessed: March 10, 2009].

Instituto Nacional de Estadística (2008b): “Encuesta de Estructura Salarial 2006. Metodología”. Available at http://www.ine.es/metodologia/t22/t223013306.pdf [last accessed: March 10, 2009].

Melly, B. (2006): “Decomposition of differences in distribution using quantile regression”, Labour Economics, 12(4), 577-590.

Oporto del Olmo, A. (1992): Emigración y ahorro en España 1959-1986, Madrid: Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad Social.

Phelps, E.S. (1972): “The Statistical Theory of Racism and Sexism”, American Economic Review, 62(4), 659-661.

Robinson, J. V. (1933): The Economics of Imperfect Competition, London: MacMillan.

Simón, H., Sanromá, E. and Ramos, E. (2008): “Labour segregation and immigrant and native-born wage distributions in Spain: an analysis using matched employer-employee data”, Spanish Economic Review, 10(2), 135-168.