Will I See You at Work? Ethnic Workplace Segregation in Sweden,1985–2002

Abstract

Using linked employer-employee data covering the entire working-age Swedish population between 1985 and 2002, the authors present evidence of substantial and increasing ethnic workplace segregation. Moreover, when human capital, geography and industrial affiliation are taken into account, immigrants are overexposed both to workers from their own birth region and to immigrants from other regions. Segregation is generally negatively correlated with economic status: groups with low employment rates are more segregated from natives; groups with many immigrant colleagues earn less than those with more native colleagues; and the higher the number of immigrants to which individuals are exposed, the lower their wages. When local labor market conditions improve, however, segregation decreases. Though the degree and nature of segregation varies substantially across ethnic groups, the patterns are quite persistent over time.