Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP5983
Authors: Amelie Constant; Liliya Gataullina; Klaus F. Zimmermann
Abstract: The European Union?s strategy to raise employment is confronted with very low work participation among many minority ethnic groups, in particular among immigrants. This study examines the potential of immigrants? identification with the home and host country ethnicity to explain that deficit. It introduces a two-dimensional understanding of ethnic identity, as a combination of commitments to the home and host cultures and societies, and links it to the labour market participation of immigrants. Using unique German survey data, the paper identifies marked gender differences in the effects of ethnic identification on the probability to work controlling for a number of other determinants. While ethnically assimilated immigrant men outperform those who are ethnically separated and marginalized, they are not different from those with openness to both cultures. Assimilated immigrant women do better than those separated and marginalized, but those who develop an attachment to both cultures clearly fare the best.
Keywords: acculturation; ethnic identity; ethnicity; gender; immigrant assimilation; immigrant integration; work
JEL Codes: F22; J15; J16; Z10
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| ethnic identity (J15) | labor market participation (J29) |
| integration (F15) | labor market outcomes (J48) |
| marginalization (F63) | employment probabilities (J68) |
| ethnic assimilation (J15) | probability of working (men) (J29) |
| integration (both cultures) (F15) | probability of working (men) (J29) |
| integration (both cultures) (F15) | probability of working (women) (J21) |
| separation/marginalization (J15) | probability of working (women) (J21) |
| strong attachment to host culture (Z13) | employment prospects (men) (J68) |
| maintaining ties to culture of origin (F22) | labor market success (women) (J29) |