Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/21333 
Year of Publication: 
2005
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 1557
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Using data from the Spanish Labor Force Survey (Encuesta de Población Activa) from 1999 through 2004, we explore the role of regional employment opportunities in explaining the increasing immigrant flows of recent years despite the limited internal mobility on the part of natives. Subsequently, we investigate the policy question of whether immigration has helped reduced unemployment rate disparities across Spanish regions by attracting immigrant flows to regions offering better employment opportunities. Our results indicate that immigrants choose to reside in regions with larger employment rates and where their probability of finding a job is higher. In particular, and despite some differences depending on their origin, immigrants appear generally more responsive than their native counterparts to a higher likelihood of informal, self, or indefinite employment. More importantly, insofar the vast majority of immigrants locate in regions characterized by higher employment rates, immigration contributes to greasing the wheels of the Spanish labor market by narrowing regional unemployment rate disparities.
Subjects: 
international migration
immigrant workers
immigrant location
immigrant responsiveness
labor market conditions
regional disparities
JEL: 
J61
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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