The gap in labor market rewards between immigrants and the native born is sometimes explained with reference to immigrants' lack of country-specific skills. This study investigates whether speaking and understanding Swedish well, having an education obtained in Sweden, and living with a Swedish partner improve immigrants' position in the labor market. The findings show that these characteristics do not substantially reduce the risk of unemployment, and the risk remains clearly above the level of native-born Swedes. However, employed immigrants with a Swedish education and very good language skills are as likely as Swedes to be educationally overqualified for their job. In sum, country-specific skills are helpful in the process of reward attainment but do not go all the way in accounting for the labor market disadvantage of immigrants. The residual may be due to discrimination.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aguilar, R.
, & Gustafsson, B. (1991). The earnings assimilation of immigrants. Labour, 5, 37-58.
2.
Aguilar, R.
, & Gustafsson, B. (1994). Immigrants in Sweden's labor market during the 1980s. Scandinavian Journal of Social Welfare, 3, 139-147.
3.
Ålund, A.
(1988). Invandrarkvinnor och problemideologier: Om möjligheter och begränsningar i den privata och den offentliga sfären [Immigrant women and problem ideologies: About possibilities and limits in the private and public sphere]. Sociologisk Forskning, 25, 32-46.
4.
Bengtsson, T.
, & Scott, K. (1999, March 25-27). Labor market entrance and income assimilation of immigrants. Paper presented at 1999 PAA annual meeting, New York.
5.
Bevelander, P.
, Carlson, B., & Rojas, M. (1997). I krusbärslandets storstäder: Om invandrare i Stockholm, Göteborg, och Malmö [In Swedish cities: About immigrants in Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö]. Stockholm: SNS Förlag.
6.
Borevi, K.
(2000). Positiv särbehandling och invandrarpolitik i Sverige [Affirmative action and immigrant policy in Sweden]. In E. Åsard & H. Runblom (Eds.), Positiv särbehandling i Sverige och USA (pp. 125-175). Stockholm: Carlssons bokförlag.
7.
Borjas, G. J.
(1985). Assimilation, changes in cohort quality, and the earnings of immigrants. Journal of Labor Economics, 3, 463-489.
8.
Borjas, G. J.
(2000). The economic progress of immigrants. In G. J. Borjas (Ed.), Issues in the economics of immigration (pp. 15-50). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
9.
Broomé, P.
, Bäcklind, A. -K., Lundh, C., & Ohlsson, R. (1996). Varför sitter “brassen” på bänken? Eller varför har invandrarna så svårt att få jobb? [Why is it so hard for immigrants to get jobs?]. Kristianstad: SNS Förlag.
10.
Chiswick, B. R.
(1986). Is the new immigration less skilled than the old?Journal of Labor Economics, 4, 168-193.
11.
Chiswick, B. R.
, & Miller, P. W. (1995). The endogeneity between language and earnings: International analyses. Journal of Labor Economics, 13, 246-288.
12.
Dahl, J. E.
, Jakobsen, V., & Emerek, R. (1998). Indvandrere & arbejdsmarkedet [Immigrantsand the labor market]. Aalborg: Indea Projektet, Institut for Samfundsudvikling og Planlaegning.
13.
Darvishpour, M.
(1997). Invandrarkvinnor utmanar männens roll [Immigrant women challenge the role of men]. In G. Ahrne & I. Persson (Eds.), Familj, makt, och jämställdhet (pp. 262-292). Stockholm: Fritzes.
14.
de los Reyes, P.
(1998). I skärningspunkten mellan genus och etnicitet: Ett ekonomiskt historiskt perspektiv på invandrarkvinnor i svenskt arbetsliv [At the intersection between gender and ethnicity: An economic historic perspective on immigrant women on the Swedish labor market]. Arbetsmarknad & Arbetsliv, 4, 13-31.
15.
Diaz, J. A.
(1993). Choosing integration: A theoretical and empirical study of the immigrant integration in Sweden. Uppsala, Sweden: Uppsala University Department of Sociology.
16.
Duleep, H. O.
, & Regets, M. C. (1997). The decline in immigrant entry earnings: Less transferable skills or lower ability?Quarterly Review of Economics & Finance, 37 (Special Issue), 189-208.
17.
Dustmann, C.
(1994). Speaking fluency, writing fluency, and earnings of migrants. Journal of Population Economics, 7, 133-156.
18.
Ekberg, J.
(1990). Invandrare på arbetsmarknaden. [Immigrants on the labor market]. In Invandrare på arbetsmarknaden & Är de nya jobben bra eller dåliga? [Immigrants in the labor market: Are the new jobs good or bad?]. Stockholm: Ministry of Labor Market.
19.
Ekberg, J.
(1994). Economic progress of immigrants in Sweden from 1970 to 1990: A longitudinal study. Scandinavian Journal of Social Welfare, 3, 148-154.
20.
Erikson, R.
, & Goldthorpe, J. H. (1992). The constant flux: A study of class mobility in industrial societies. Oxford, UK: Clarendon.
21.
Friedberg, R. M.
(2000). You can't take it with you? Immigrant assimilation and the portability of human capital. Journal of Labor Economics, 18, 221-251.
22.
Green, D. A.
(1999). Immigrant occupational attainment: Assimilation and mobility over time. Journal of Labor Economics, 17, 49-79.
23.
Khakee, A.
, & Johansson, M. (1999). Not on our doorstep: Immigrants and “blackheads” in Sweden's urban development. In A. Khakee, P. Somma, & H. Thomas (Eds.), Urban renewal, ethnicity, and social exclusion in Europe (pp. 10-37). Burlington, VT: Ashgate.
24.
Knokke, W.
(1999). The labour market for immigrant women in Sweden: Marginalised women in low-valued jobs. In J. Wrench, A. Rea, & N. Ouali (Eds.), Migrants, ethnic minorities, and the labor market (pp. 108-131). New York: St. Martin's.
25.
Lalonde, R.
, & Topel, R. (1997). Economic impact of international migration and the economic performance of migrants. In M. Rosenzweig & O. Stark (Eds.), Handbook of population and family economics: Internal migration in developed countries (Vol. 1B, pp. 800-850). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
26.
Lange, A.
(1998). Människor från fyra länder i Sverige 1993 [People from four countries in Sweden 1993]. Unpublished manuscript.
27.
Lange, A.
, & Westin, C. (1997). Den mängtydiga toleransen [The ambiguous tolerance]. Stockholm: Ceifo.
28.
leGrand, C.
, & Szulkin, R. (1999). Invandrarnas löner i Sverige: Betydelsen av vistelsetid, invandrarland och svensk skolgång [Immigrants' wages in Sweden: The importance of time of residence, country of origin, and Swedish schooling]. Arbetsmarknad & Arbetsliv, 5, 89-110.
29.
Lundh, C.
, & Ohlsson, R. (1999). Från arbetskraftsimport till flyktinginvandring [From labor force immigration to refugee immigration]. Stockholm: SNS Förlag.
30.
McManus, W.S.
(1985). Labor market assimilation of immigrants: The importance of language skills. Contemporary Policy Issues, 3, 77-89.
31.
Park, J. H.
(1999). The earnings of immigrants in the United States: The effects of English speaking ability. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 58, 43-56.
32.
Paulson, S.
, Schierup, C. -U., & Ålund, A. (1994). Den interna arbetsmarknaden: Etniska skiktningar och dekvalificering [The internal labor market: Ethnic stratification and dequalification]. In C. -U. Schierup & S. Paulson (Eds.), Arbetets etniska delning [The ethnical division of labor] (pp. 25-80). Stockholm: Carlssons bokförlag.
33.
Pedraza, S.
(1991). Women and migration: The social consequences of gender. Annual Review of Sociology, 17, 303-325.
34.
Portes, A.
(1995). Economic sociology and the sociology of immigration: A conceptual overview. In A. Portes (Ed.), The economic sociology of immigration: Essays on networks, ethnicity, and entrepreneurship (pp. 1-41). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
35.
Portes, A.
(1998). Social capital: Its origin and applications in modern sociology. Annual Review of Sociology, 24, 1-24.
36.
Portes, A.
, & Zhou, M. (1996). Self-employment and the earnings of immigrants. American Sociological Review, 61, 219-230.
37.
Powers, M.
, & Seltzer, W. (1998). Occupational status and mobility among undocumented immigrants by gender. International Migration Review, 32, 21-55.
38.
Rooth, D. -O.
(1999). Refugee immigrants in Sweden: Educational investments and labour market integration (Lund Economic Studies 84 Lund). Lund, Sweden: Lund University, Department of Economics.
39.
Sanders, J. M.
, & Nee, V. (1996). Immigrant self-employment: The family as social capital and the value of human capital. American Sociological Review, 61, 231-249.
40.
Schröder, L.
(1999). Integration av utrikes födda på svenska arbetsmarknad [Integration of foreign-born in the Swedish labor market]. Søkelys på arbeidsmarkedet, 16, 227-236.
41.
Schröder, L.
, & Vilhelmsson, R. (1998). Sverigespecifikt humankapital och ungdomars etablering på arbetsmarknaden [Swedish specific human capital and young people's establishment on the labor market]. Ekonomisk Debatt, 26, 595-601.
42.
Scott, K.
(1999). The immigrant experience: Changing employment and income patterns in Sweden, 1970-1993. In Lund studies in economic history (Vol. 9). Lund, Sweden: Lund University Press.
43.
Södergran, L. (2000). Svensk invandrar- och integrationspolitik: En fråga om jämlikhet, demokrati och mänskliga rättigheter [Swedish immigrant and integration policy: A question of equality, democracy, and human rights]. Doctoral thesis, Department of Sociology, Umeå University.
44.
Soininen, M.
(1999). Refugee care in Sweden: The problems of unemployment and anti-discrimination policies. In J. Wrench, A. Rea, & N. Ouali (Eds.), Migrants, ethnic minorities, and the labor market (pp. 108-131). New York: St. Martin's.
Statistics Sweden
. (1989). Occupations in population and housing census 1985 according to Nordic standard occupational classification (NYK) and Swedish socioeconomic classification (SEI). Stockholm: Author.
47.
Statistics Sweden
. (1992). The labor force survey. Stockholm: Author.
48.
Statistics Sweden
. (1993). The labor force survey. Stockholm: Author.
49.
Statistics Sweden
. (1995). Statistical yearbook. Stockholm: Author.
50.
Statistics Sweden
. (1999). Statistical yearbook. Stockholm: Author.
51.
Swedish Government Commission
. (1974). Invandrarna och minoriteterna: Huvudbetänkande av Invandrarutredningen [Immigrants and minorities: The government commission on immigrants]. Stockholm: Liber förlag.
52.
Swedish Immigration Board
. (1998). På tal om...statistik om invandring och om personer med utländsk bakgrund [Talking about...statistics on immigration and immigrants]. Söderköping: Tellotryck.
53.
Vilhelmsson, R.
(2000). Ethnic differences in the Swedish youth labour market (Licentiat No. 15). Stockholm: Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
54.
Wadensjö, E.
(1997). Invandrarkvinnors arbetsmarknad. [The labor market of immigrant women]. In I. Persson & E. Wadnesjö (Eds.), Glastak och glasväggar? Den könssegregerade arbetsmarknaden (pp. 195-212). Stockholm: Fritzes.
55.
Wadstein, M.
(1999). The role of the ombudsman in the enforcement of non-discrimination law. In T. Loenen & P. R. Rodrigues (Eds.), Non-discrimination law: Comparative perspectives (pp. 353-364). Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff.
56.
Zhou, M.
(1997). Growing up American: The challenge confronting immigrant children and children of immigrants. Annual Review of Sociology, 23, 63-95.
