Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP2702
Authors: Christian Dustmann; Christoph M. Schmidt
Abstract: This Paper contrasts labour participation behaviour and wages of native and immigrant women. Since the impact of family structure on labour supply differs between natives and immigrants, we explicitly distinguish between part-time and full-time jobs. The choice of jobs is accounted for by an ordered probit selection model with an incidental threshold, thus offering a flexible strategy to address selection issues in a segmented labour market. Our analysis is based on panel data, allowing us to control for correlated individual-specific effects in both selection- and wage equations. We conclude that migrant women receive lower wages than native women in the same labour market segment, and that this is mainly associated with their relatively low educational endowments. Their relatively high ability to combine full-time work and child rearing somewhat mitigates these disadvantages.
Keywords: assimilation; discrete choice models; segmented labour markets
JEL Codes: J22; J31; J61
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Migrant women (J82) | Lower wages than native women (J79) |
| Low educational endowments of immigrant women (I24) | Wage gap (J31) |
| Educational attainment (I21) | Wages for native women (J31) |
| Educational attainment (I21) | Wages for migrant women in part-time jobs (J31) |
| Family structure (J12) | Labor supply decisions of women (J22) |
| Husbands who arrived in the host country earlier (J12) | Lower wages for women (J31) |
| Husbands who arrived in the host country earlier (J12) | Lower participation probabilities for women (J79) |