Three essays on the economic and cultural integration of migrants in Switzerland: putting into perspective the influence of economic discrimination and of host society culture

Kohler, Pierre (2012): Three essays on the economic and cultural integration of migrants in Switzerland: putting into perspective the influence of economic discrimination and of host society culture. Published in: Thesis of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies No. 940 (2012): pp. 1-251.

Abstract

This thesis consists of three essays on the economic and cultural integration of migrants in Switzerland, reverse causation between these two dimensions of the integration process, and the role of host society culture. Whereas each dimension is usually examined separately, this study proposes a systemic approach to investigate both the economic and cultural dimensions of migrant integration, their interaction as well as the influence of the broader social context. Chapter 1 explores the cultural integration paths of eight migrant groups from the first to the second generation by tracing the evolution of selected behaviours and attitudes, which are taken as indicative of cultural integration. It gauges the extent to which behaviours and attitudes of migrants are diverging from or converging with those of natives. Chapter 2 examines the causes of integration failures or, more precisely, how economic and cultural barriers to integration reinforce each other. Are cultural differences preventing the successful integration of migrants or does the root of integration failures lie in unequal economic opportunities and discrimination? Chapter 3 investigates the effect of host society culture on migrant wage discrimination. It examines whether the markedly more conservative political preferences on issues related to migration and asylum of voters in the German-speaking region of Switzerland affect outcomes in the labour market, or whether economic interactions are immune from tensions developing in the society at large.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: immigration, migration, culture, labour market, economic integration, discrimination, Switzerland
• Subjects: F - International Economics > F2 - International Factor Movements and International Business > F22 - International Migration; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J7 - Labor Discrimination > J71 - Discrimination; Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics ; Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology > Z10 - General; Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics ; Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology > Z13 - Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology ; Social and Economic Stratification; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J7 - Labor Discrimination > J78 - Public Policy; Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics ; Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology > Z12 - Religion; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J3 - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs > J31 - Wage Level and Structure ; Wage Differentials; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J6 - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers > J60 - General; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J15 - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants ; Non-labor Discrimination; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J6 - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers > J68 - Public Policy; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J7 - Labor Discrimination > J70 - General

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