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Blind recruitment can level the playing field in access to jobs but cannot prevent all forms of discrimination
The use of anonymous job applications (or blind recruitment) to combat hiring discrimination is gaining attention and interest. Results from field experiments and pilot projects in European countries (France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden are considered here), Canada, and Australia shed light on their potential to reduce some of the discriminatory barriers to hiring for minority and other disadvantaged groups. But although this approach can achieve its primary aims, there are also important cautions to consider.
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Patterns of labor market assimilation for
married immigrant women are similar to those for men
What is the role of married women in immigrant
households? Their contribution to the labor market has traditionally been
considered of secondary importance and studied in the framework of temporary
attachment to the labor force to support the household around the time of
arrival. But this role has changed. Evidence from major immigrant-receiving
countries suggests that married immigrant women make labor supply decisions
similar to those recently observed for native-born married women, who are
guided by their own opportunities in the labor market rather than by their
spouses’ employment trajectories.
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Immigrants initially earn less than natives;
the wage gap falls over time, but for many immigrant groups it never
closes
Immigrants contribute to the economic
development of the host country, but they earn less at entry and it takes
many years for them to achieve parity of income. For some immigrant groups,
the wage gap never closes. There is a wide variation across countries in the
entry wage gap and the speed of wage assimilation over time. Wage
assimilation is affected by year of entry, immigrant skill, ethnicity, and
gender. Policies that facilitate assimilation of immigrant workers provide
support for education, language, and employment. Such policies can also
reduce barriers to entry, encourage naturalization, and target selection of
immigrants.
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When migrants move to countries with high
obesity rates, does assimilation lead to labor market penalties and higher
health care costs?
Upon arrival in a host country, immigrants often
have lower obesity rates (as measured for instance by BMI—body mass index)
than their native counterparts do, but these rates converge over time. In
light of the worldwide obesity epidemic and the flow of immigrants into host
countries with higher obesity rates, it is important to understand the
consequences of such assimilation. Policymakers could benefit from a
discussion of the impact of immigrant obesity on labor market outcomes and
the use of public services. In particular, policies could find ways to
improve immigrants’ access to health care for both the prevention and
treatment of obesity.
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Do poor labor market opportunities lead to
migrant crime?
Immigration is one of the most important
policy debates in Western countries. However, one aspect of the debate is
often mischaracterized by accusations that higher levels of immigration lead
to higher levels of crime. The evidence, based on empirical studies of many
countries, indicates that there is no simple link between immigration and
crime, but legalizing the status of immigrants has beneficial effects on
crime rates. Crucially, the evidence points to substantial differences in
the impact on property crime, depending on the labor market opportunities of
immigrant groups.
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A mix of policies could be the solution to
reducing discrimination in the labor market
Discrimination is a complex, multi-factor
phenomenon. Evidence shows widespread discrimination on various grounds,
including ethnic origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion or
beliefs, disability, being over 55 years old, or being a woman. Combating
discrimination requires combining the strengths of a range of
anti-discrimination policies while also addressing their weaknesses. In
particular, policymakers should thoroughly address prejudice (taste-based
discrimination), stereotypes (statistical discrimination), cognitive biases,
and attention-based discrimination.
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High-quality enclave networks encourage labor
market success for newly arriving immigrants
Immigrants tend to live in clusters within host
countries. Does clustering in ethnic enclaves explain the persistent
differences in skill, employment rates, and earnings between immigrants and
the native population? Empirical studies consistently find that residing in
an enclave can increase earnings. While it is ambiguous whether employment
probabilities are also affected or whether earnings benefits accrue to all
immigrants, irrespective of their skill levels, it is clear that effects are
driven by enclave “quality” (in terms of income, education, and employment)
rather than enclave size.
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Poor paid employment prospects push minority
workers into working for themselves, often in low-reward work
In many countries, ethnic minority groups are
over-represented in self-employment compared with the majority community.
The kind of work done by minority entrepreneurs can therefore be an
important driver of the economic well-being of their ethnic group.
Furthermore, growing the self-employment sector is a policy objective for
many governments, which see it as a source of innovation, economic growth,
and employment. While self-employment might offer economic opportunities to
minority groups, it is important to understand the factors that underlie the
nature and extent of ethnic entrepreneurship to evaluate whether policy
measures should support it.
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Shifting the focus from immigrants’ initial
earnings to their propensity to invest in human capital
Immigrants who start with low earnings, such as
family-based immigrants, experience higher earnings growth than immigrants
who are recruited for specific jobs (employment-based immigrants). This
occurs because family-based immigrants with lower initial earnings invest in
human capital at higher rates than natives or employment-based immigrants.
Therefore, immigrants who start at low initial earnings invest in new human
capital that allows them to respond to the ever-changing needs of the host
country’s economy.
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The immigrant–native earnings gap is due in part
to firm-specific factors resulting from differential sorting of workers into
firms
Recent research has tried to quantify how firms
contribute to the immigrant–native earnings gap. Findings from several
countries show that around 20% of the gap is due to firm policies that lead
to a systematic underrepresentation of immigrants at higher-paying firms.
Results also show that some of the closing of the gap over time is
attributable to the reallocation of immigrants toward higher-paying
employers. This pattern is especially pronounced for immigrants coming from
disadvantaged countries, who face several barriers at initial entry,
including language difficulties and lack of recognition of their educational
credentials.
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