Working in a recession : are immigrants unwanted guests?
Authors
Rodriguez Esteban, Luz Maria
Issue Date
2012
Degree
MSc International Banking and Finance
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
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Abstract
The purpose of this dissertation is to estimate the impact of foreign nationals on the wages and employment levels of native Irish workers. Further aims are to analyse the demographic and educational characteristics of the immigrants, identify the reasons why they chose Ireland as a destination and investigate their role in the Irish labour market. For the research both primary and secondary sources were used to collect information. My research has confirmed that the majority of immigrants have come from the EU 12 accession countries; they are highly educated and have travelled to Ireland for primarily mainly economic reasons. The data suggest provides evidence that in some sectors immigrants have taken roles that the native workers found undesirable, while in other sectors there is evidence that immigrants are filling roles where there is insufficient qualified workers among the native population. To analyse the impact on wages and employment, I have used econometric techniques which aim to discover the relationship between immigration related variables and to measure the strength of the relationship between these variables. My results show a negative immigration impact on the employment rates of natives over the period 2005 - 2011.However, conflicting effects have been found when I performed the analysis of the impact of immigration on wages. Each enterprise sector was investigated individually over the period 2009 – 2001. Negative impacts were found in nine enterprise sectors (Industry, Construction, Wholesale and Retail, Transport and storage, Information and communication, Financial Insurance and real estate activities, Administrative and support services activities, Health, Other Services). Positive immigration impacts on wages were found in four enterprise sectors (Accommodation and food service, Public administration and Defence, Education and Health). In these four sectors the evidence suggests that the presence of foreign nationals may cause wages to increase.