Do Immigrants Gain or Lose by Occupational Licensing?

Gómez, Rafael; Gunderson, Morley; Huang, Xiaoyu; Zhang, Tingting

doi:10.3138/cpp.2014-028

Cited by 32 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Previous Canadian studies use information from the Government of Canada's website, WorkingCanada.org; it not only includes both licensed and certified occupations but also assumes occupations were regulated before the beginning of the data (Banerjee and Phan ; Girard and Smith ; Gomez et al . ). My new occupational licensing indicator is based on a jurisdictional review of occupational statutes and acts, recording the year of occupational licensing laws proclaimed for each occupation across all 10 Canadian provinces.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Effects of Occupational Licensing and Unions on Labour Market Earnings in Canada

Zhang

2018

Brit J Industrial Rel

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Using longitudinal data from the Canadian Survey of Labour and IncomeDynamics from 1999 to 2011, the article compares the pay and benefits of licensed and unionized workers. In a cross section of respondents and using ordinary least squares estimates, it finds a pay premium of 0.155 log points for those with an occupational licence compared to those without one; the comparable union wage premium is slightly more than half, that is 0.085 log points. Fixed-effects estimates go in the opposite direction (0.028 and 0.046 log points for licensing and unionization, respectively), suggesting the existence of unobservable factors correlated with licensing and union status. Unionized workers are more likely to access standard benefits, such as medical insurance and pension plans, but licensed workers benefit little from their licensing status in access to benefits. Finally, union workers are significantly less likely to receive incentive pay, such as profit sharing, while the association between occupational licensing and incentive pay is close to zero and statistically insignificant.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…A limited number of recent studies report that immigrants who work in regulated occupations receive 15 per cent more in wage gains than native born Canadians working in the those occupations, while also receiving the 4 per cent positive wage premiums associated with regulated occupational status (Gomez et al . ).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 97%

Effects of Occupational Licensing and Unions on Labour Market Earnings in Canada

Zhang

2018

Brit J Industrial Rel

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Turning to the costs or side effects of regulation, researchers have found that licensure restricts labour supply and consequently increases both the price of relevant goods and services, and the earnings of regulated practitioners who benefit from the monopoly rents which in many the Canadian and US contexts are observed to be similar in magnitude to those from unionization (e.g., Kleiner 2013, Kleiner and Krueger 2010, Kugler and Sauer 2005, and Gomez et al 2015. Scopes of practice can also be arbitrarily limited by occupational regulation, as particular tasks are assigned to an occupation but restricted from another.…”

Section: The Goals Of Regulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We are aware of no direct evidence regarding trends in the number of regulated/licensed workers in Canada although it is possible, using difficult to compile and limited lists of occupations that are regulated, to track the number of workers in regulated occupations as is done by Gomez et al (2015). However, what is clear is that the regulation of previously unregulated occupations is commonplace -especially in the health sector.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occupational Regulation and Foreign Qualification Recognition: An Overview

Sweetman¹,

McDonald

Hawthorne

2015

Canadian Public Policy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The theory and practice of occupational regulation are outlined together with associated issues regarding foreign qualification recognition. Tradeoffs between public safety and the monopoly power inherent in occupational regulation are highlighted, together with a description of the increasing scope of occupational regulation both in terms of the numbers of occupations coming under regulation from government and the share of workers subject to those regulations. The focus is on the implications of occupational regulation for highly skilled immigrants seeking employment in the occupation in which they hold a relevant academic credential. For countries outside of the US, it is striking how little quantitative research has been conducted in the area. A better understanding is crucial since policies on and approaches to occupational regulation are evolving rapidly in part because of the increasing scale of skilled migration.

show abstract

“…This role places them in a powerful position which given their lack of accountability, can be problematic (E. Girard & Bauder, 2007b;Gomez, Gunderson, Huang, & Zhang, 2015;Hawthorne, 2002). As a result immigrant professionals can experience significant structural barriers (Augustine, 2015b;Ngo & Este, 2006).…”

Section: Recognition Of Overseas Qualificationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overseas-qualified professionals: the search for professional re-entry and its perceived impact on settlement

Scull¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Gaining recognition of overseas qualifications represents a major barrier for skilled migrants in Australia and is a primary cause of underemployment. While recent immigration policy initiatives have had some positive impacts on labour market outcomes among skilled migrants, the challenges posed by qualifications recognition remain and skill under-utilisation is a significant issue, particularly for migrants from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. The recent Australian literature on skilled migrants focuses predominantly on broader labour market trends and there is little qualitative research that has explored the labour market experiences of these migrants, or the perceived impact of their experiences on settlement.This exploratory study aims to address this gap by focusing on the subjective experiences of overseas-qualified professionals seeking professional re-entry in Australia. Specifically the research focuses on their search for qualifications recognition and skill utilisation, and the perceived impact of this search on settlement. Adopting a qualitative methodology, the study targeted migrants with qualifications and work experience in legally-regulated professions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 CALD overseas-qualified professionals in southeast Queensland. These interviews elicited an in-depth account of their search for professional re-entry, together with their perceptions of how these experiences had affected their settlement. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data, which was guided by a conceptual framework that draws together aspects of recognition theory, cultural and social capital.The findings suggest that regardless of outcome, the majority of participants perceived that their search for professional re-entry had been to some extent negative. The search for registration was often characterised by the need for participants to make significant investments of time, money and effort. Despite such investments, many participants perceived that the design and implementation of the qualifications recognition process restricted their ability to demonstrate their linguistic and professional competence. Over half the participants had managed to gain registration, an outcome that represented formal recognition of their professional status. Registration itself, however, did not ensure skill utilisation, and professional re-entry was dependent upon gaining informal recognition in the labour market. In response to challenges encountered in the search for work, participants described a range of strategies they used to develop their employability. Despite these efforts, only six of the 20 participants had achieved professional re-entry at the time of interview.iii Participants' perceptions of how their search for professional re-entry had affected their settlement were inextricably linked with their understandings of settlement. Participants understood settlement as a sense of security and belonging, which could be facilitated by meaningful work. Those ...

show abstract

Do Immigrants Gain or Lose by Occupational Licensing?

Cited by 32 publications

References 19 publications

Effects of Occupational Licensing and Unions on Labour Market Earnings in Canada

Effects of Occupational Licensing and Unions on Labour Market Earnings in Canada

Occupational Regulation and Foreign Qualification Recognition: An Overview

Overseas-qualified professionals: the search for professional re-entry and its perceived impact on settlement

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About