Search

This paper examines geographic differences in the effect of immigration on the wage distribution of native Italian workers. The results suggest an insignificant effect across the wage distribution in northern provinces, but large and significant effects in the lower and middle parts of the distribution in the south. This is entirely because immigration pushed up wages at the lower end of the female wage distribution in southern local areas. This result is consistent with increases in labor market participation of native women that went hand in hand with improvements of women's skills at the bottom of the wage distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study exploits the variability in the incidence of recent immigration inflows and the change in native employment in the Italian provinces to shed light on the impact of immigration on employment in rigid local labour markets. The study focuses on the period that followed the financial and sovereign debt crises, which strongly hit the labour markets of the Italian provinces. The results reveal a negligible overall impact of immigration on provincial employment which, however, hides differentiated impacts for different groups of natives. Employment responses to immigration shocks vary greatly depending on the skills and gender of the natives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]