Ethnic Enclaves and Immigrant Labor Market Outcomes: Quasi-Experimental Evidence

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Damm, Anna Piil
• 署名单位: Aarhus University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF LABOR ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0734-306X
• DOI: 10.1086/599336
• 发表日期: 2009
• 页码: 281-314
• 关键词: social interactions; unemployment; custom

摘要

I examine the effects of the ethnic enclave size on labor market outcomes of immigrants. I account for ability sorting into enclaves by exploiting a Danish spatial dispersal policy under which refugees were randomly dispersed across locations. First, I find strong evidence that refugees with unfavorable unobserved characteristics self-select into ethnic enclaves. Second, a relative standard deviation increase in the ethnic enclave size increases annual earnings by 18% on average, irrespective of skill level. Third, further findings are consistent with the explanation that ethnic networks disseminate job information, which increases the job-worker match quality and thereby the hourly wage rate.