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Discrimination in the Housing Market as an Impediment to European Labour Force Integration : the Case of Iceland

Björnsson, Davíð Freyr ; Kopsch, Fredrik LU and Zoega, Gylfi (2018) In Journal of International Migration and Integration 19(3). p.829-847
Abstract

Labour market integration, and the free movement of people, has been a key feature of the European Economic Area (EEA). In fact, the EEA states that the free movement of people is “perhaps the most important right for individuals, as it gives citizens of the 31 EEA countries the opportunity to live, work, establish business and study in any of these countries.” However, unless citizens within the EEA are granted equal possibilities, the free movement will be of less value. This paper sets out to study the role of the rental housing market, in particular from the perspective of equal possibilities between majority (domestic) and minority (foreign) groups in Iceland. With the largest minority group of the Icelandic workforce being Polish,... (More)

Labour market integration, and the free movement of people, has been a key feature of the European Economic Area (EEA). In fact, the EEA states that the free movement of people is “perhaps the most important right for individuals, as it gives citizens of the 31 EEA countries the opportunity to live, work, establish business and study in any of these countries.” However, unless citizens within the EEA are granted equal possibilities, the free movement will be of less value. This paper sets out to study the role of the rental housing market, in particular from the perspective of equal possibilities between majority (domestic) and minority (foreign) groups in Iceland. With the largest minority group of the Icelandic workforce being Polish, it is important from an integration perspective to study potential differences between native and Polish workers in possibilities to enter the rental housing market. By conducting an Internet field experiment, we show that Polish men in fact face a more difficult situation on the rental housing market than others, which serves as an impediment to the free flow of labour for this group of immigrants.

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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Discrimination, Field experiment, Housing market, Iceland, Labour migration
in
Journal of International Migration and Integration
volume
19
issue
3
pages
829 - 847
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:85046762388
ISSN
1488-3473
DOI
10.1007/s12134-018-0574-0
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
444b29f6-6c63-4617-b079-f3b092abc45c
date added to LUP
2018-05-23 14:01:50
date last changed
2022-03-25 01:59:14
@article{444b29f6-6c63-4617-b079-f3b092abc45c,
  abstract     = {{<p>Labour market integration, and the free movement of people, has been a key feature of the European Economic Area (EEA). In fact, the EEA states that the free movement of people is “perhaps the most important right for individuals, as it gives citizens of the 31 EEA countries the opportunity to live, work, establish business and study in any of these countries.” However, unless citizens within the EEA are granted equal possibilities, the free movement will be of less value. This paper sets out to study the role of the rental housing market, in particular from the perspective of equal possibilities between majority (domestic) and minority (foreign) groups in Iceland. With the largest minority group of the Icelandic workforce being Polish, it is important from an integration perspective to study potential differences between native and Polish workers in possibilities to enter the rental housing market. By conducting an Internet field experiment, we show that Polish men in fact face a more difficult situation on the rental housing market than others, which serves as an impediment to the free flow of labour for this group of immigrants.</p>}},
  author       = {{Björnsson, Davíð Freyr and Kopsch, Fredrik and Zoega, Gylfi}},
  issn         = {{1488-3473}},
  keywords     = {{Discrimination; Field experiment; Housing market; Iceland; Labour migration}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{829--847}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Journal of International Migration and Integration}},
  title        = {{Discrimination in the Housing Market as an Impediment to European Labour Force Integration : the Case of Iceland}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12134-018-0574-0}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s12134-018-0574-0}},
  volume       = {{19}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}