The Importance of Origin and Destination Country Skills for Labour Market Attachment of Immigrants from Pakistan, Iran and Turkey

Abstract

This study explores how qualifications acquired prior to migration affect employment of adult immigrants in the destination country. It explores the direct effect as well as indirect effects arising through destination country investments. The study combines survey information on destination country language proficiency and education level from the country of origin with administrative records on employment and education acquired in the destination country. The results neither show evidence of direct transferability nor of indirect employment gains from foreign skills when complemented by domestic language proficiency. Yet, foreign educated do acquire more education in the destination country, that raises their employment.

A Maternal Wall for Refugees? Gender and Labor Market Establishment in Sweden

“…Unfortunately, the register data does not allow us to separate between education acquired in the country of origin and that acquired after arriving in Sweden. This is unfortunate considering that the latter may be relevant for immigrants' employment prospects (Arendt et al 2020). To get more correct measures of both establishment and level of education, we also control for current participation in education.…”

PROTOCOL: Interventions to improve the economic self‐sufficiency of unemployed immigrants from non‐Western countries

“…General ALMPs comprise four types of interventions-following classifications from OECD (OECD, 2004) and Eurostat (Eurostat 2005) (Arendt & Pozzoli, 2013, Arendt, Pohl Nielsen, & Jakobsen, 2016. Therefore, we will divide the training programmes into two subgroups: (1a) classroom training and (1b) on-the-training/work experience.…”

“…Training is a classical type of ALMP. Previous studies have shown that it is important to distinguish between classroom‐training and on‐the‐job training (Arendt & Pozzoli, 2013, Arendt, Pohl Nielsen, & Jakobsen, 2016). Therefore, we will divide the training programmes into two subgroups: (1a) classroom training and (1b) on‐the‐training/work experience. …”

“…In immigrant labour market integration research, the human capital model is the dominant paradigm (Kogan, 2011 ; Kogan, Frank, Elisabeth, & Yinon, 2011 ). Research shows that immigrants with higher levels of human capital‐primarily in terms of education and labour market experience are more likely to integrate quickly and successfully into the destination country society (Chiswick, 2005 ; however see also Arendt, Pohl Nielsen, et al, 2016 ). Such success is more likely the more such education and labour market experience is similar to the educational credentials and the experience that can be obtained in the destination country (Ebner & Helbling, 2016 ).…”

Barriers to Access?: <i>Immigrant Origin and Occupational Regulation</i>

“…Because the authorities and professional bodies scrutinise the skill content and skill level of a foreigntrained professional, employers and clients are relieved from this task. Employers may be hesitant to hire immigrants if they doubt the academic content of foreign credentials or immigrants' language proficiency and cultural competence more generally (Arendt, Nielsen & Jakobsen 2017;. However, the licensing authority performs an evaluation of the skills and suitability of the practitioner, which can increase the trustworthiness of the practitioner.…”