The Effect of Immigration on the Employment Opportunities of Native-Born Workers: Some Evidence for Spain

FEDEA Working Paper No. 2004-17

43 Pages Posted: 5 Nov 2004

See all articles by Raquel Carrasco

Raquel Carrasco

Charles III University of Madrid - Department of Economics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Juan F. Jimeno

Banco de España - Research Department; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Ana Carolina Ortega Masague

Foundation for Applied Economic Research (FEDEA); Universidad de Alcala

Date Written: September 2004

Abstract

Spain is one of the European countries where immigration flows during the last decade have increased noticeably. The Spanish labor market institutions and the Spanish immigration policy exhibit some peculiarities which may be relevant when analyzing the impact of immigration. This paper provides a first approximation to the labor market effects of immigrants in Spain during the second half of the 1990s, the period in which immigration flows to Spain have accelerated. By using alternative datasets, we estimate both the impact of legal and total immigration flows on the employment rates of native workers, accounting for the possible occupational and geographical mobility of immigrants and native-born workers. Using different samples and estimation procedures, we have not found a significant negative effect of immigration on the employment rates of native workers. The corresponding estimated elasticity is low, around -0.1, when considering only legal immigrants, and is not significant when considering both legal and illegal immigrants.

Keywords: Immigration, employment rates

JEL Classification: J21, J11

Suggested Citation

Carrasco Perea, Raquel and Jimeno, Juan F. and Ortega Masague, Ana Carolina, The Effect of Immigration on the Employment Opportunities of Native-Born Workers: Some Evidence for Spain (September 2004). FEDEA Working Paper No. 2004-17, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=614281 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.614281

Raquel Carrasco Perea (Contact Author)

Charles III University of Madrid - Department of Economics ( email )

Calle Madrid 126
Getafe, 28903
Spain
+34 91 624 9583 (Phone)
+34 91 624 9875 (Fax)

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

Juan F. Jimeno

Banco de España - Research Department ( email )

Alcala 48
28014 Madrid
Spain

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Ana Carolina Ortega Masague

Foundation for Applied Economic Research (FEDEA) ( email )

Jorge Juan 46
Madrid, 28001
Spain
+34 914350401 (Phone)
+34 915779575 (Fax)

Universidad de Alcala

Plaza de San Diego s/n
E-28801 Madrid
Spain

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