Regional labour markets and assimilation of foreign labour force
Date
2023-11-27
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Abstract
Doktoritöö keskmes on Euroopa Liidu regionaalsed tööturud, nende omavahelised ruumilised seosed ning välistööjõu kohanemine sihtriigi tööturul Eesti näitel. Välistööjõud moodustab regionaalsetel töötuturgudel märkimisväärse osa kogu tööjõust. 2021. aastal oli Euroopa Liidus kogu tööjõust 13% välismaal sündinud inimesi. Kuigi välismaalased moodustavad olulise osa kogu tööjõust, on nende keskmine tööhõive ja palgatase tavaliselt madalamad kui kohalikel. Töö- ja pendelränne tõttu tekivad seosed naaberregioonide tööturgude vahel, mida kutsutakse ruumilisteks ülekanneteks ja mis selgitavad olulist osa regionaalsete tööturu näitajate erinevusest. Doktoritöö keskendub mitmele olulisele küsimusele. Esiteks, kuidas on regionaalsed tööturud ruumiliste ülekannete tõttu omavahel seotud. Teiseks, kuidas sisserändajad ja nende järeltulijad pikaajalises vaates regionaalsel tööturul kohanevad. Viimaks, kuidas mõjutab kohaliku keele oskus sisserändajate ja nende järeltulijate assimileerumist kohalikul tööturul. Doktoritöö jõuab mitmete huvitavate järeldusteni. Esiteks, ruumiliste ülekannete analüüsist järeldub, et Euroopa regionaalsete tööturgude vahel eksisteerib oluline ruumiline sõltuvus. Koostöömõjud domineerivad, mis tähendab, et üldiselt saavad regioonid naaberalade tööhõive määra kasvust kasu. Teiseks, sisserändajate perede põlvkondadevahelise mobiilsuse analüüs osutab, et inimkapitali ülekandumise kõrval võivad muud mehhanismid, nagu ühiste väärtuste ja sotsiaalsete võrgustike ülekandumine ning naabruskonna mõjud, olla olulised sissetulekute mobiilsuse selgitamisel. Leitakse, et suhteline põlvkondadevaheline sissetulekute mobiilsus sisserändajate ja kohalike peredes on Eestis umbes samas suurusjärgus, samas kui absoluutne mobiilsus on sisserändajate peredes madalam. Viimaks, kohaliku keele õppe mõjude analüüs näitab, et kohaliku keele õpe aitab töötutel välispäritolu elanikel leida tööd, kuid ei too kaasa palgatõusu.
The focus of this thesis is on the regional labour markets of the European Union, their spatial interactions, and the assimilation of the foreign labour force in the host country's labour market, using the example of Estonia. Foreign labour force constitutes a significant share of the total labour force in regional labour markets. In 2021, 13% of all the labour force in the European Union were foreign-born. While foreign-born form a substantial share of the total labour force, their labour market outcomes tend to be inferior to those of the native-born. Furthermore, labour migration movements and commuting create connections between neighbouring regional labour markets, known as spatial interactions, which explain a significant share of the variation in the regional labour market indicators. The thesis investigates several important questions. First, how do regional labour markets affect each other through spatial interactions. Second, how do the foreign labour force and their descendants assimilate into the regional labour market in the long term. Last, how is the assimilation of foreign labour force and their descendants impacted by the local language skills. The thesis leads to several interesting conclusions. First, the analysis of spatial interactions leads to the conclusion that significant spatial dependence exists between European regional labour markets. Cooperation effects dominate, meaning that in general regions benefit from the employment rate growth of neighbouring regions. Second, analysis of intergenerational transmissions for immigrant families indicates that besides the transmission of human capital, other channels, such as the transmission of common values, contact networks and neighbourhood effects could be important mechanisms of intergenerational earnings transmissions. Relative intergenerational earnings mobility is found to be around the same magnitude in Estonia for immigrant and native families, however absolute mobility is lower for immigrant families. Last, the analysis of the role of local language training shows that language training helps unemployed non-natives to find employment but does not lead to wage premium.
The focus of this thesis is on the regional labour markets of the European Union, their spatial interactions, and the assimilation of the foreign labour force in the host country's labour market, using the example of Estonia. Foreign labour force constitutes a significant share of the total labour force in regional labour markets. In 2021, 13% of all the labour force in the European Union were foreign-born. While foreign-born form a substantial share of the total labour force, their labour market outcomes tend to be inferior to those of the native-born. Furthermore, labour migration movements and commuting create connections between neighbouring regional labour markets, known as spatial interactions, which explain a significant share of the variation in the regional labour market indicators. The thesis investigates several important questions. First, how do regional labour markets affect each other through spatial interactions. Second, how do the foreign labour force and their descendants assimilate into the regional labour market in the long term. Last, how is the assimilation of foreign labour force and their descendants impacted by the local language skills. The thesis leads to several interesting conclusions. First, the analysis of spatial interactions leads to the conclusion that significant spatial dependence exists between European regional labour markets. Cooperation effects dominate, meaning that in general regions benefit from the employment rate growth of neighbouring regions. Second, analysis of intergenerational transmissions for immigrant families indicates that besides the transmission of human capital, other channels, such as the transmission of common values, contact networks and neighbourhood effects could be important mechanisms of intergenerational earnings transmissions. Relative intergenerational earnings mobility is found to be around the same magnitude in Estonia for immigrant and native families, however absolute mobility is lower for immigrant families. Last, the analysis of the role of local language training shows that language training helps unemployed non-natives to find employment but does not lead to wage premium.
Description
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Keywords
labour market, labour economics, demand for labor, labour migration, commuting, foreign workers