Understanding the Economic Integration of Immigrants: A Wage Decomposition of the Earnings Disparities between Native-Born Canadians and Recent Immigrant Cohorts

This study assesses whether characteristics relating to ethnic identity and social inclusion influence the earnings of recent immigrants in Canada. Past research has revealed that relevant predictors of immigrant earnings include structural and demographic characteristics, educational credentials an...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kristyn Frank, Kelli Phythian, David Walters, Paul Anisef
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2013-04-01
Series:Social Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/2/2/40
Description
Summary:This study assesses whether characteristics relating to ethnic identity and social inclusion influence the earnings of recent immigrants in Canada. Past research has revealed that relevant predictors of immigrant earnings include structural and demographic characteristics, educational credentials and employment-related characteristics. However, due to the unavailability of situational and agency variables in existing surveys, past research has generally been unable to account for the impact of such characteristics on the economic integration of immigrants. Drawing on data from Statistics Canada's Ethnic Diversity Survey, this paper builds on previous research by identifying the relative extent to which sociodemographic, educational and ethnic identity characteristics explain earnings differences between immigrants of two recent cohorts and native-born Canadians. The results indicate that immigrants are disadvantaged in the labor market in terms of characteristics relating to sociodemographics and ethnic identity, but are advantaged in terms of human capital.
ISSN:2076-0760