- Open access
- Published:
Who opposes immigrants’ integration into the labor market? The Swiss case
Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics volume 146, pages 741–767 (2010)
Summary
First, we spell out a political-economy model, based on segmented labor markets, which explains why a guest-worker system is preferred to a non-discriminatory immigration regime and why measures to improve the integration of low-skill immigrants tend to be opposed subsequently. The model also predicts that attitudes towards the integration of immigrants are positively related to education. Second, we examine the empirical evidence on attitudes towards the integration of immigrants. Our findings from Swiss data are consistent with the prediction of the theoretical model. Both economic and non-economic factors seem to matter in the positive relationship between attitudes and education.
References
Bauer, Thomas K., Magnus Lofstrom, and Klaus F. Zimmermann (2000), “Immigration Policy, Assimilation of Immigrants and Natives’ Sentiments towards Immigrants: Evidence from 12 OECD-Countries”, IZA Discussion Paper No. 187.
Bulow, Jeremy I., and Lawrence H. Summers (1986), “A Theory of Dual Labor Markets with Application to Industrial Policy, Discrimination, and Keynesian Unemployment”, Journal of Labor Economics, 4 (3), pp. 376–414.
Castles, Stephen (1986), “The Guest-Worker in Western Europe: An Obituary”, International Migration Review, 20 (4), 761–778.
Dustmann, Christian (1993), “Earnings Adjustment of Temporary Migrants”, Journal of Population Economics, 6, pp. 153–168.
Dustmann, Christian, and Ian P. Preston (2007), “Racial and Economic Factors in Attitudes to Immigration”, The B. E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 7 (1), Advances, Article 62.
Facchini, Giovanni, and Anna Maria Mayda (2008), “From Individual Attitudes towards Migrants to Migration Policy Outcomes: Theory and Evidence”, Economic Policy, 56, pp. 651–713.
Facchini, Giovanni, and Anna Maria Mayda (2009), “Individual Attitudes towards Immigrants: Welfare-State Determinants across Countries”, Review of Economics and Statistics, 91 (2), pp. 295–314.
Fibbi, Rosita, Mathias Lerch, and Philippe Wanner (2006), “Unemployment and Discrimination against Youth of Immigrant Origin in Switzerland: When the Name Makes the Difference”, Journal of International Migration and Integration, 7 (3), pp. 351–366.
Goldberg, Andreas, Dora Mourinho and Ursula Kulke (1996), “Labour Market Discrimination against Foreign Workers in Germany”, International Migration Papers 7, International Labour Office, Geneva.
Hainmueller, Jens, and Michael J. Hiscox (2007), “Educated Preferences: Explaining Attitudes Toward Immigration in Europe”, International Organization, 61, pp. 399–442.
Hanson, Gordon H., Kenneth F. Scheve and Matthew J. Slaughter (2007), “Local Public Finance and Individual Preferences over Globalization Strategies”, Economics and Politics, 19, pp. 1–33.
Flückiger, Yves, and Milad Zarin Nejadan (2000), «Intégration de la population étrangère en Suisse: aspects économiques», rapport au Fonds National Suisse, mimeo.
Goldberg, Andreas, Dora Mourinho, and Ursula Kulke (2010), “Ethnic Discrimination in Germany’s Labour Market: A Field Experiment”, IZA Discussion Paper No. 4741.
Mayda, Anna Maria (2006), “Who is against Immigration? A Cross-Country Investigation of Individual Attitudes toward Immigrants”, Review of Economics and Statistics, 88 (3), pp. 510–530.
Mayer, Kurt B. (1965), “Postwar Migration from Italy to Switzerland”, International Migration Digest, 1 (2), pp. 5–13.
de Melo, Jaime, Florence Miguet, and Tobias Müller (2002), “The Political Economy of EU Enlargement: Lessons from Switzerland”, CEPR Discussion Paper No 3449.
Müller, Tobias (2003a), “Migration Policy in a Small Open Economy with a Dual Labor Market”, Review of International Economics, 11 (1), pp. 130–143.
Müller, Tobias (2003b), “Migration, Unemployment and Discrimination”, European Economic Review, 47, pp. 409–427.
Müller, Tobias, and José Ramirez (2009), “Wage Inequality and Segregation between Native and Immigrant Workers in Switzerland: Evidence Using Matched Employee-Employer Data”, Research on Economic Inequality, 17, pp. 205–243.
Müller, Tobias, and Silvio H. T. Tai (2009), “Individual Attitudes towards Migration: A Reexamination of the Evidence”, mimeo University of Geneva.
Piguet, Etienne, and Hans Mahnig (2000), «Quotas d’immigration: L’expérience de la Suisse», Cahiers de migrations internationales, 37, International Labour Office, Geneva.
OECD (2008), International Migration Outlook (SOPEMI), OECD, Paris.
O’Rourke, Kevin H., and Richard Sinnott (2006), “The Determinants of Individual Attitudes Towards Immigration”, European Journal of Political Economy, 22: pp. 838–861.
Scheve, Kenneth F., and Matthew. J. Slaughter (2001), “Labor Market Competition And Individual Preferences Over Immigration Policy”, Review of Economics and Statistics, 83 (1): pp. 133–145.
Shapiro, Carl, and Joseph E. Stiglitz (1984), “Equilibrium Unemployment as a Worker Discipline Device”, American Economic Review, 74(3), pp. 433–444.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The authors would like to thank Jaime de Melo and Florence Miguet for stimulating comments. Financial support by the TOM (“Transnationality of Migrants”) Marie-Curie Research and Training Network is gratefully acknowledged.
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
About this article
Cite this article
Müller, T., Tai, S.H.T. Who opposes immigrants’ integration into the labor market? The Swiss case. Swiss J Economics Statistics 146, 741–767 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03399335
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03399335