Gaining from Migration: a Case Study on Greece Migration and Development: A Euro-Mediterranean Perspective Rhodes 26 April 2007 Theodora Xenogiani OECD Development Centre

Labour Market Outcomes of Foreign Workers Occupation Sector of work Employment, unemployment and participation rates Wages Job stability Contrary to the experience of Northern European countries, immigrants in Greece have higher employment and participation rates than natives

Occupation at Work Immigrant workers are highly segregated in specific occupations. Half of them would have to change jobs for their distribution to be the same as that of natives Half of foreign men are craft and related trades workers 57% of foreign women are employed in elementary occupations The share of foreign workers employed as managers and professionals has decreased substantially between 1993 and 2006

Sector of Work: Foreign Men Agriculture, hunting and Forestry Fishing Mining and quarrying Manufacturing Electricity, gas and water supply Construction Wholesale and retail trade; vehicle repair Hotels and restaurants Transport, storage, communications Financial intermediation Real estate, renting and business activities Public administration and defense Education Health and social work Other service activities Private households with employees Source: LFS 2006b Immigrants represent 26% of total employment in construction. Their share was only 3% in 1993

Sector of Work: Foreign Women Agriculture, hunting and Forestry Fishing Manufacturing Construction Wholesale and retail trade; vehicle repair Hotels and restaurants Transport, storage, communications Financial intermediation Real estate, renting and business activities Public administration and defense Education Health and social work Other service activities Private households with employees extra-territorial organisations Source: LFS 2006b 71% of female domestic employees are foreigners

Labour Market Outcomes Controlling for basic characteristics…: Foreign men have higher employment and labour market participation rates than Greek men Foreign men and women do not have higher than natives unemployment rates But…both foreign men and women are less likely to hold permanent jobs

Foreign-Natives Gaps in Labour Market Outcomes MenWomenMenWomen Participation=1Permanent Job=1 Foreign Citizen=1 (0.012)**(0.033) (0.039)** (0.047)** Observations EmploymentUnemployment Foreign Citizen=1(0.018)**(0.033)(0.01)(0.014) Observations Source: SILC 2004

Foreign-Natives Gaps in Wages Source: SILC 2004 Log (Wages) Men Women Foreign Citizen=1 (0.028)** (0.029)** (0.042)** (0.044)** Occupation Dummies noyesnoyes Observations

Foreign-Natives Gaps in Wages Substantial wage gaps between foreign nationals and Greek nationals, over the period Significant drop in wage gap after 2003

Understanding the Wage Gap The wage gaps between immigrant and Greek men are mostly explained by differences in the returns to their characteristics and not differences in their actual characteristics. The opposite is true for women.

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