Norface: Characteristics and labour market performance of the new member state immigrants

Institutional characteristics of the host countries mayimpact the labour market outcomes and assimilation patterns of immigrants. Labour market institutions of these four countries differ from each other in many respects as illustrated by institutional indicators. The UK labour market can be described as flexible, with alow level of employment protection and generally market based wage setting (though there is a set minimum wage level). The other three countries have stricter employment protection (in Finland and Netherlands the level of overall level is below the EU average level and in Germany above the average the EU average level) and wages are set by collective bargaining.In both Germany and the UK there is a larger share of low wage employment which could be expected to offer more opportunities to migrants even in the entry phase influencing their employment performance (Kogan, 2007). If de facto levels of discrimination are consisten twith the MIPEX index of antidiscrimination laws, labour market entry in relative termsshould be easy for immigrants in the UK and Finland and the most difficult in Germany.The economic performance of the host countries also exerts influence on the labour market performance of the immigrants in the host country. According to previous research immigrants’ labour market performance outcomes tend to be more sensitive to the business cycle than those of natives...Read more