Migrants in the UK Labour Market: An Overview

This briefing provides an overview of the employment levels and employment shares of migrants in the UK economy as a whole, and in specific sectors and occupations

Residual Wage Inequality and Immigration in the UK and the US

Over the last few decades, immigration has increased significantly in both the US and the UK; both countries have also experienced notable increases in the degree of wage inequality. Unlike previous studies, this paper focuses on the effects of immigration on the residual wage inequality in the UK and US between 1994 and 2008. It seeks to assess whether and to what degree immigration contributed, along with technology, institutions and traditional explanations, to widening inequality. To answer these questions, this work reassesses Lemieux’s hypothesis (i.e., composition effects exert an upward mechanical force on the residual wage inequality) by adding the immigration dimension to the original analysis. The empirical analysis reveals that residual wage inequality is higher among immigrants than among natives. However, such differences do not contribute (much) to the increasing residual wage inequality observed in the two countries.wage inequality, immigration, composition effects, residual

There is a positive and significant association between increases in the employment of migrant workers and labour productivity growth

New research from Cinzia Rienzo and colleagues at the NIESR finds that the increasing presence of immigrants in the labour force is associated with an increase in labour productivity. Specifically, a 1 percentage point change in immigrants as share of initial employment is associated with a change in labour productivity between 0.06 and 0.07 percent

Essays on Wage Inequality: the Role of Composition, Immigration and the Cost-of-living

This thesis focuses on the role of composition, immigration and the cost-of-living on wage inequality. I begin by investigating to what extent changing characteristics of the labour force can help explain the fact that residual or within-group wage inequality –wage dispersion among workers with the same education and experience- is generally thought to account for most of the growth in wage inequality observed in several industrialised countries over the last thirty years. I compare the results for men and women in Italy, the UK, and the US from 1987 to 2003 or 2004. I find that even though residual does account for most of the wage variation in all countries, there is no common increasing trend in residual inequality. I also find that workforce composition does not always act to increase the residual wage inequality. In the second part of the thesis, I investigate the effects of immigration on residual wage inequality in the UK and the US between 1994 and 2008, by assessing whether and to what degree immigration contributed, along with technology, institutions and traditional explanations, to widening inequality. The analysis reveals that residual wage inequality is higher amongst immigrants than amongst natives. However, such differences do not contribute (much) to the increasing residual wage inequality observed in the two countries. The final section of this thesis questions how existing estimates of inequality change when differences in the cost-of-living and the differential concentrations of individuals with different levels of education across regions are taken into account. I focus on changes in the difference in the hourly wage for workers with a college degree and high school degree in the UK between 1997 and 2008. Results show that the national RPI underestimates the cost-of-living of workers living in the most expensive regions (London, South East) and overestimates the cost-of-living for “cheaper” regions (Northern Ireland, Scotland). When deflating hourly wages by the regional RPI, the average level of wages is lower, by 8% to 11% an hour for all workers in London and the South East, whilst it is higher, by around 2% to 9% in the remaining regions; similarly the level, but not changes, in wage inequality is lower when deflating by the real regional RPI.

Residual Wage Inequality and Immigration in the UK and the US

Over the last few decades, immigration has increased significantly in both the US and the UK; both countries have also experienced notable increases in the degree of wage inequality. Unlike previous studies, this paper focuses on the effects of immigration on the residual wage inequality in the UK and US between 1994 and 2008. It seeks to assess whether and to what degree immigration contributed, along with technology, institutions and traditional explanations, to widening inequality. To answer these questions, this work reassesses Lemieux’s hypothesis (i.e., composition effects exert an upward mechanical force on the residual wage inequality) by adding the immigration dimension to the original analysis. The empirical analysis reveals that residual wage inequality is higher among immigrants than among natives. However, such differences do not contribute (much) to the increasing residual wage inequality observed in the two countries

Residual Wage Inequality and Immigration in the UK and the US

Over the last few decades, immigration has increased significantly in both the US and the UK; both countries have also experienced notable increases in the degree of wage inequality. Unlike previous studies, this paper focuses on the effects of immigration on the residual wage inequality in the UK and US between 1994 and 2008. It seeks to assess whether and to what degree immigration contributed, along with technology, institutions and traditional explanations, to widening inequality. To answer these questions, this work reassesses Lemieux’s hypothesis (i.e., composition effects exert an upward mechanical force on the residual wage inequality) by adding the immigration dimension to the original analysis. The empirical analysis reveals that residual wage inequality is higher among immigrants than among natives. However, such differences do not contribute (much) to the increasing residual wage inequality observed in the two countries