This article examines the occupational mobility of immigrants between their countries of origin and Spain on the basis of one of the few surveys available internationally with longitudinal information on immigrant employment in home and host countries. The evidence shows that the occupational status of immigrants in the Spanish labour market is, in general, substantially worse than in their countries of origin. The severe loss of occupational status experienced by immigrants is explained by the combined effect of the intense initial downgrading they experience when entering the Spanish labour market and their very slow occupational progress during their stay in Spain. These findings are more in line with the segmented assimilation theory, which suggests a limited or blocked immigrant occupational mobility, than with the assimilation theory, which predicts a U-shaped evolution in the occupational status of immigrants between their home and host countries. As a result, the Spanish case contrasts sharply with previous evidence for other advanced countries, which tends to support the assimilation perspective. Finally, the empirical evidence suggests that one of the elements impeding the occupational mobility of immigrants in Spain is the significant size of the secondary segment of the labour market, which restricts immigrants' opportunities mainly to low-status occupations.

This article carries out an empirical examination of the origin of the differences between immigrant and native-born wage structures in the Spanish labour market. Especial attention is given in the analysis to the role played by occupational and workplace segregation of immigrants. Legal immigrants from developing countries exhibit lower mean wages and a more compressed wage structure than native-born workers. By contrast, immigrants from developed countries display higher mean wages and a more dispersed wage structure. The main empirical finding is that the disparities in the wage distributions for the native-born and both groups of immigrants are largely explained by their different observed characteristics, with a particularly important influence in this context of workplace and, particularly, occupational segregation.

This article analyses the importance of labour market institutions and, in particular, collective wage bargaining in shaping regional wage differences in the Spanish labour market. Using microdata from the Spanish Structure of Earnings Survey, our results reveal that there are significant inter-regional wage differences for similarly skilled workers. These differences are present throughout the whole wage structure and can be explained by both competitive and noncompetitive factors, such as an insufficient competition in product markets. In this context, industry-level collective bargaining plays a major role in accounting for regional wage differences, a role that in the Spanish case is enhanced due to its unusual regional dimension.Keywords: Wage structure; regional wage differences; collective bargaining. JEL codes: J31, J50.RESUMEN: Este trabajo analiza la importancia de las instituciones del mercado de trabajo y, en particular, el sistema de negociación colectiva en la explicación de las diferencias salariales regionales en el mercado de trabajo español. Los resultados obtenidos a partir de información microeconómica de la Encuesta de Estructura Salarial muestran la existencia de apreciables diferencias salariales entre las regiones españolas para trabajadores con habilidades productivas observadas similares. Estas diferencias salariales están presentes a lo largo de toda la estructura salarial y se explican por factores competitivos y por factores no competitivos, como la insuficiente competencia en el mercado de productos. En este contexto, la negociación colectiva sectorial es en gran medida la responsable de la diferenciación salarial entre territorios, lo que resulta facilitado por la vertiente territorial que caracteriza al sistema español de negociación colectiva Palabras clave: Estructura salarial, diferencias salariales regionales, negociación colectiva.

Using international harmonized matched employer-employee micro data from the European Structure of Earnings Survey for nine European countries, this article examines the origin of international differences in wage inequality. Wage inequality is highly correlated with the magnitude of inter-firm wage differentials. Workplace- and job-related factors generally have a more significant impact on within-country wage inequality than individual characteristics. European countries differ significantly not only in the extent of wage inequality but also in the relative influence of factors shaping wage inequality. Although cross-country differences in labour force composition play a part in the explanation, differences in the distribution and in labour market prices attached to workplace and job characteristics are the primary factors contributing to international differences in wage inequality. Copyright (c) Blackwell Publishing Ltd/London School of Economics 2008.

h i g h l i g h t sWe examine the origin of wage differences between hospitality and rest of sectors. Small differences in lower part of wage distribution but very relevant in upper part. Differences due only to a composition effect, in contrast with other low-wage sectors. Most qualified workers are penalized: endowments much less rewarded in hospitality. Low levels of wage inequality in hospitality explained by wage-setting mechanisms. Available online xxx JEL codes:The article examines the origin of differences between wages in the hospitality sector and the rest of the private sector in Spain. The evidence obtained for the 2002e2010 period shows that the wage disadvantage of hospitality presents an increasing profile along the wage distribution so that it is particularly relevant for those earning comparatively higher salaries. In contrast with other low-wage sectors, lower wages in hospitality are explained almost entirely by the specific characteristics of its workers and jobs (particularly their lower educational qualifications and their higher presence in low-skilled occupations), and not by the existence of lower rewards to those characteristics. Highly qualified individuals are however an exception since they suffer a wage penalty for working in the sector. Furthermore the analysis shows that pay inequality is substantially lower in the hospitality sector and that it is not due to the relative characteristics of its workers and jobs.

This article examines the origin of the cross-country heterogeneity of the gender wage gap in nine European countries using a unique harmonized international matched employer-employee dataset. Our novel findings suggest that cross-country differences in the intensity of female segregation into low-paying workplaces is a relevant source of international differences in the size of the gap and that international disparities in the characteristics of wage structures are not very influential. On the other hand, the evidence is not fully conclusive with respect to the influence on the variations of the gap of different macroeconomic, social and institutional country-specific features considered previously in the literature.2

Employees' job satisfaction influences their commitment, affects quality and productivity, and is therefore crucial for a labour-intensive industry such as Tourism. In this article the determinants of job satisfaction are examined in comparative terms for tourism workers versus those employed in the rest of the service sector. In contrast with previous research, the analysis is not restricted to hospitality workers, includes all types of occupations, and is based on a nationwide representative sample. The explanatory models of job satisfaction are estimated using ordered logit techniques, considering personal and household characteristics as well as objective and subjective job characteristics. The results indicate that job satisfaction is significantly lower among tourism workers and that in some cases notable differences exist between the factors influencing job satisfaction in the tourism sector compared with the rest of the service sector, which might be relevant for managers and policymakers.

Abstract:The literature on immigrant assimilation highlights the imperfect portability of the human capital acquired by immigrants in their country of origin, which accounts for their low levels of labor market integration upon arrival in the new country, as well as their initially wide earnings gap. Recent studies have examined this issue from the perspective of overeducation. This study analyzes the portability of immigrants' human capital into the Spanish job market according to their geographic origin. Spain's immigrants originate from a highly varied range of countries, with origins as diverse as Latin America, the Maghreb and Eastern Europe. Here, the use of public microdata files from the Spanish Census permits us to identify up to six regions of immigrant origin comprising developed countries and developing economies, distinguishing, furthermore, different regions of origin on the basis of their language and level of development. The results obtained indicate differing degrees of transferability of human capital depending on geographic origin, with transferability being greater for immigrants from countries that are highly developed or which have a similar culture or language and lower for those from developing countries and with more distant cultures. As an immigrant's period of residence in Spain is prolonged, integration does take place but the pace is slow (between 7 and 9 years).