Cross-sectional literature has shown that in Switzerland as elsewhere immigrants are more penalized than the native-born population both considering the unemployment risk and their position in the employment structure. Using a longitudinal framework, the present article focuses on a comparison between male immigrants and natives in the Swiss labour market, analysing two risks: the risk of unemployment and the risk of entrapment in unskilled occupations. In the first part of the article, using a dynamic random effect models, we show that immigrants present less state dependence than natives considering both unemployment and the risk of entrapment in unskilled positions. In the second part, using Heckman selection models, we show that less state dependence of immigrants corresponds to a higher mobility towards the skilled working class that is limited to the secondary labour market. We explain these differences with the interplay of Swiss labour market characteristics, in particular, the need for high flexibility and the positive selection of immigrants whose access to the Swiss labour market is generally realized through the bottom of employment structure.
AfonsoA (2004) Immigration and its impact in Switzerland. Mediterranean Quarterly15(4): 147–166.
2.
BaileyTWaldingerR (1991) Primary secondary and enclave labor markets: A training system approach. American Sociological Review56(4): 432–445.
3.
BaltagiB (2001) Econometric Analysis of Panel Data. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
4.
BernardiFGarridoL (2008) Is there a new service proletariat? Post-industrial employment growth and social inequality in Spain. European Sociological Review24(3): 299–313.
5.
BiancoM (1996) Classi e reti sociali Risorse e strategie degli attori nella riproduzione delle disuguaglianze. Bologna: Il Mulino.
6.
BonoliGMachA (2000) Switzerland Adjustment Politics within Institutional Constraints. In: ScharpfFSchmidtV (eds) Welfare and Work in the Open Economy Diverse Responses to Common Challenges. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
7.
BorjasG (1999) Heaven’s Door: Immigration Policy and the American Economy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
8.
ChiswickB (1999) Are immigrants favorably selected?American Economic Review89(2): 181–185.
9.
CromptonR (1998) Class and Stratification: An Introduction to Current Debates, 2nd edn.Cambridge: Polity Press; Malden, MA: Blackwell.
10.
DedingMFridbergTJakobsenV (2008) Non-response in a survey among immigrants in Denmark. Survey Research Methods2(3): 107–121.
11.
DjurdjevicD (2005) Unemployment and under-employment: The case of Switzerland. Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics141(1): 23–70.
12.
EliasPBirchM (1994) Isco-88: A Guide for Users. Warwick: University of Warwick.
13.
EriksonRGoldthorpeJHPortocareroL (1979) Intergenerational class mobility in three Western European societies: England, France and Sweden. British Journal of Sociology30(4): 414–415.
14.
Esping-AndersenG (1990) The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press.
15.
Esping-AndersenG (1993) Changing Classes: Stratification and Mobility in Post-Industrial Societies. London: SAGE.
16.
FerreraM (1993) Modelli di solidarietà. Bologna: Il Mulino.
17.
FeskensRHoxJLensvelt-MuldersGSchmeetsH (2006) Collecting data among ethnic minorities in an international perspective. Field Methods18(3): 284–304.
18.
FeskensRHoxJLensvelt-MuldersGSchmeetsH (2007) Non-response among ethnic minorities: A multivariate analysis. Journal of Official Statistics23(3): 387–408.
19.
FluckigerY (1998) The labour market in Switzerland: The end of a special case?International Journal of Manpower19(6): 369–395.
20.
FreesE (2004) Longitudinal and Panel Data Analysis and Application in the Social Sciences. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
21.
GolderSMStraubhaarT (1999) Empirical Findings on the Swiss Migration Experience. IZA Working Paper no. 40. Available at: http://ssrncom/abstract=166566.
22.
GongXVan SoestAVillagomezE (2000) Mobility in the urban labor market: A panel data analysis for Mexico. Economic Development and Cultural Change53(1): 1–36.
23.
GordonM (1964) Assimilation in American Life: The Role of Race Religion and National Origins. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
GrossDFraserS (2006) Immigration Policy and Foreign Population in Switzerland. Policy Research Working Paper 3853, The World Bank.
26.
HarrisonERoseD (2006) The European Socio-economic Classification. Colchester: University of Essex.
27.
HarrisonERoseD (eds) (2009) Social Class in Europe: An Introduction to the European Socio-Economic Classification. London: Routledge.
28.
HeckmanJJ (1981) Statistical models for discrete panel data. In: ManskiCFMcFaddenD (eds) Structural Analysis of Discrete Data with Econometric Applications. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 114–179.
29.
LiangKZegerSL (1986) Longitudinal data analysis using generalized linear models. Biometrika73(1): 13–22.
30.
LockwoodD (1958) The Blackcoated Worker. London: Allen & Unwin.
31.
Office Fédéraledela Statistique (OFS) (2004) L’enquête suisse sur la population active Concepts - Bases méthodologiques – Considérations pratiques. Neutchatel: Office Fédérale de la Statistique.
32.
Office Fédérale de la Statistique (OFS) (2005) La population étrangère en Suisse. Neutchatel:Office Fédérale de la Statistique.
33.
PeracchiFDepaloD (2006) Labor market outcomes of natives and immigrants: Evidence from the ECHP. Social Protection Discussion Paper No. 0615, The World Bank, Washington, DC, November.
34.
PettittANTranTTHaynesMAHayJL (2006) Bayesian Hierarchical Model for categorical longitudinal data from a social survey of immigrants. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society series A169(1): 97–114.
35.
PiguetE (2004) L’immigration en Suisse Cinquante ans d’entrouverture. Lausanne: Presse polytechniques romandes.
36.
PortesA (1995) The Economic Sociology of Immigration: Essays on Networks Ethnicity and Entrepreneurship. New York: Russel Sage Foundation.
37.
SchumpeterJA (1951) Social classes in ethnically homogeneous environment. In: HeselitzBNordenH (eds) Imperialism and Social Classes: Two Essays by J Schumpeter. New York: Word Publishing Company.
38.
SkrondalARabe-HeskethS (2008) Multilevel and related models for longitudinal data. In: De LeeuwJMeijerE (eds) Handbook of Multilevel Analysis. New York: Springer, 275–299.
39.
TranTT (2008) Bayesian model estimation and comparison for longitudinal data. PhD thesis, Queensland University of Technology, Australia.
40.
WaldingerR (1997) Social capital or social closure? Immigrant networks in labor market. Working Paper #26, Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies.
41.
WannerPNeubauerAMoretJ (2002) Caractéristiques de vie des populations issues de l’immigration: Une analyse des données du panel suisse des ménages 1999–2000. Rapport de recherché, Swiss Forum for Population and Migration Studies, Neutchâtel.
WooldridgeJM (2005) Simple solutions to the initial conditions problem in dynamic, nonlinear panel-data models with unobserved heterogeneity. Journal of Applied Econometrics20(1): 39–54.
44.
WrightEO (1985) Classes. London: Verso.
45.
WrightEO (ed.) (2005) Approaches to Class Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
