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The effect of co-ethnic social capital on immigrants' labor market integration : a natural experiment
Gërxhani, Klarita; Kosyakova, Yuliya (2022): „The effect of co-ethnic social capital on immigrants’ labor market integration : a natural experiment“. Berlin ; Heidelberg: Springer doi: 10.1186/s40878-022-00289-x.
Author:
Title of the Journal:
Comparative migration studies : CMS
ISSN:
2214-594X
Corporate Body:
European Research Centre on Migration and Ethnic Relations
Publisher Information:
Year of publication:
2022
Volume:
10
Pages:
Language:
English
Abstract:
Empirically identifying the causal effect of social capital on immigrants’ economic prospects is a challenging task due to the non-random residential sorting of immigrants into locations with greater opportunities for prior or co-ethnic connections. Our study addresses this selection-bias issue by using a natural-experimental dataset of refugees and other immigrants who were exogenously allocated to their first place of residence by German authorities. This unique opportunity allows us to make an important methodological contribution to the predominantly observational knowledge about immigration and co-ethnic social capital. Although a growing body of migration studies in economics and sociology stresses the importance of social networks for migrants’ labor market integration, our results show little evidence of a causal effect of social networks themselves. Being part of a larger co-ethnic community per se does not accelerate immigrants’ labor market success except for the migrants who use the resources embedded in their social contacts when looking for a job. We conclude that further methodological advancements can be achieved by embracing recent technological developments and by combining different methods to increase both internal and external validity of findings in migration studies.
GND Keywords: ; ; ;
Deutschland
Einwanderer
Soziales Kapital
Berufliche Integration
Keywords: ; ; ; ;
Network social capital
Natural experiment
Immigrants
Co-ethnic community
Labor market
DDC Classification:
RVK Classification:
Type:
Article
Activation date:
August 11, 2023
Versioning
Question on publication
Permalink
https://fis.uni-bamberg.de/handle/uniba/90004