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Workplace concentration of immigrants
Fredrik Andersson1, Mónica García-Pérez, John Haltiwanger
1Economics Department, Office of the Comptroller of Currency, 400 7th Street SW, Washington, DC, 20219, USA, Fredrik.Andersson@occ.treas.gov.
Immigrant workers are significantly more likely to have immigrant coworkers than native-born workers. This concentration is largely explained by industry, language, and location for immigrants from different countries, but social networks likely drive co-worker selection among compatriots.
Area of Science:
- Labor Economics
- Sociology
- Urban Studies
Background:
- Immigrant workers often exhibit higher co-ethnic coworker rates than native-born workers.
- Quantifying and understanding the drivers of immigrant coworker concentration is crucial for labor market integration.
- Previous research has not precisely measured or quantified the sources of this phenomenon.
Purpose of the Study:
- To measure the extent to which immigrants and native-born workers have immigrant coworkers.
- To identify the factors contributing to immigrant coworker concentration in U.S. urban labor markets.
- To differentiate between factors driving co-working with compatriots versus immigrants from other nations.
Main Methods:
- Utilized matched employer-employee data from the U.S. Census Bureau Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) database.
- Analyzed data from metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) with significant immigrant populations.
- Decomposed coworker composition by immigrant origin (compatriot vs. other) and analyzed contributing factors (industry, language, residential segregation, human capital).
Main Results:
- On average, 37% of an immigrant's coworkers are immigrants, compared to 14% for native-born workers.
- Industry, language, and residential segregation explain most of the tendency for immigrants to work with non-compatriot immigrants.
- A substantial portion of the tendency for immigrants to work with compatriots remains unexplained, suggesting the role of social networks.
Conclusions:
- Immigrant coworker concentration is a significant phenomenon in U.S. urban labor markets.
- While observable factors explain co-working with diverse immigrant groups, unmeasured country-specific factors like social networks are key for compatriot co-working.
- Findings highlight the importance of social networks in immigrant labor market dynamics and integration.
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