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Using microdata from the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU‐LFS) and aggregate indicators of labour market institutions, this article compares the job quality of native and non‐native workers across European countries and analyses the impact of the institutional settings on the job quality differential between both groups. The LFS is used to measure a job quality index for the period 2005–2017. We find that some immigrant groups fare worse than natives, the contribution of the "composition effect" to explain this differential is large, and the institutional framework affects the immigration gap in job quality. In particular, some labour market institutions (more centralized wage bargaining, stricter employment protection legislation) tend to be detrimental for immigrants relative to natives, while integration policies seem to work well in reducing these differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European debates on immigrant integration focus on employment because of its implications for assimilation. Although studies show that Sub‐Saharan African immigrants are most disadvantaged across Europe, cross‐national analyses do not examine labour force participation (LFP) or control for selection into the labour force before estimating employment, calling these results into question. Furthermore, studies rarely discuss visible minority status or gender making it unclear whether (1) country‐context matters for African LFP and employment and (2) visible minority status matters differently by gender. I use French and Spanish census data to determine whether Sub‐Saharan Africans are most disadvantaged in new and traditional receiving countries. My results indicate that country‐context matters, but previous employment findings likely reflect variation in LFP. Despite smaller penalties to migration characteristics in Spain, Sub‐Saharan African men are the only group significantly less likely to be employed in Spain, indicating that they experience unique barriers to job access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing high levels of temporary migration between Central and Eastern Europe and the European Union (EU) have highlighted a number of concerns relating to the eastern enlargement of the Union. While much of the debate has focused on the destinations, we use Slovakia as a case study to explore economic implications for the countries of origin of highly skilled migrants. First, the paper examines estimates of the scale of“youth brain migration”, comparing survey-based and expert-opinion estimates with our own estimate based on reconciling labour market and educational data. This identifies a substantial loss of graduate workers from the labour force through migration, accounting for a potentially significant proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth. Second, we consider whether such migration will constitute“brain drain/overflow” or“brain circulation”: in other words will it be temporary or permanent? In some ways, however, this is a false dichotomy, for there are strong links between initial temporary migration and intended permanent migration, explored here through a survey of the motivations and social networks of returned migrants. Third, we address the ability of national states to intervene to mediate such losses. We generally concur with other commentators on the need for a multi-scalar and multi-functional approach, focusing especially on economic development. However, we are pessimistic about the likely speed of economic convergence and, moreover, argue that initial temporary migration (with implications for permanent migration) will continue to be driven by non-economic goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been argued that Europe needs more immigrants to restore its age structure and its work force. Even if low European fertility continues, decline in the work force is relatively modest in the medium term and is considerably lower than the potential reserve labor force in Europe. It seems eccentric to propose the resumption of immigration for low-grade labor when there are 15 million unemployed in Europe, most under age 25 and many themselves immigrants, especially since future demand for labor emphasizes high skills. A resumption of general immigration to ensure population stabilization would require inflows much higher even than those previously considered unacceptable. Instead, attention should be given to making it easier for women to combine their desires for children with those for work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses various perspectives of immigration from receiving countries. Western Europe and the Gulf opted for a policy of admitting temporary rather than permanent migrants because they see manpower shortages as temporary. Western European governments assumed that the labor shortages of the 1950s and early 1960s would end when those born immediately after the war entered the labor force. Some sociologists and economists have suggested deeper structural explanations for the use of temporary foreign workers. One is that foreign workers can be a cushion in economies with fluctuations in employment. Another reason for admitting guest workers rather than permanent migrants is that the countries of Western Europe and the Gulf believed that they could thereby avoid becoming ethnically plural societies.