Immigrant Employment Integration and Structural Change in Sweden, 1970-1995
(2000) In Lund Studies in Economic History 15.- Abstract
- This study deals with the employment integration of immigrant men and women in Sweden between 1970 and 1995. The first chapter starts with a review of theory and previous studies on immigrant employment and from this a number of testable hypotheses are framed The second chapter gives an overview of Swedish immigration history, the composition of the immigrant population and the economic background in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. Furthermore, a discussion on the employment variable in Swedish statistics is undertaken. The third chapter contains an analysis of education and family-related factors on the employment integration of immigrants, in 1970 and 1990 using cross-sectional data. The fourth chapter is a more detailed study of... (More)
- This study deals with the employment integration of immigrant men and women in Sweden between 1970 and 1995. The first chapter starts with a review of theory and previous studies on immigrant employment and from this a number of testable hypotheses are framed The second chapter gives an overview of Swedish immigration history, the composition of the immigrant population and the economic background in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. Furthermore, a discussion on the employment variable in Swedish statistics is undertaken. The third chapter contains an analysis of education and family-related factors on the employment integration of immigrants, in 1970 and 1990 using cross-sectional data. The fourth chapter is a more detailed study of immigrants’ investment in country-specific skills and commitment affecting the probability of obtaining employment in 1970 and 1990. The fifth chapter contains a longitudinal study, where the effects of structural change and education on the employment attachment of immigrant men and women are analysed. The results of the longitudinal study are related to the cross-sectional analysis in chapters three and four. Finally, in the sixth chapter, we sum up the results and make some concluding remarks. The results of the thesis are that the difficulty of obtaining employment for both immigrant men and women has been increasing during the course of the studied period. This difficulty of obtaining employment is found not only to be due to changing human capital characteristics among immigrants but also to changes in the economy. Both business cycle variation and structural changes in the Swedish economy are found to have had a negative influence on the employment integration of immigrants. Especially the technical and organisational changes during the middle of the 1980s and early 1990s, implied a greater demand for employees with a proportionately higher general competence and inter-personal skills. Unskilled labour was to largely made redundant by efficiency improvements. Serial production, automation and specialisation were increasingly replaced by teamwork, influence on working processes and varying assignments. Without reducing the demand for formal education and skill, the importance of informal skills has increased in this way. This informal competence includes, for instance, culture-specific proficiency, language skills, tacit knowledge and understanding of different patterns of behaviour in teamwork and in relations with authorities and labour market organisations. It is also probable that the increased stress on country-specific skills has led to an increase in statistical discrimination by employers. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Popular Abstract in Swedish
Denna studie handlar om sysselsättningsintegrationen av manliga och kvinnliga invandrare i Sverige mellan 1970 och 1995. Första kapitlet inleds med en översikt av teorier och tidigare studier om invandrares sysselsättning. Utifrån denna formuleras ett antal hypoteser. Det andra kapitlet ger en översikt av den svenska migrationshistorien, invandrarnas karaktäristika samt den ekonomiska bakgrunden till den studerade perioden. Vidare diskuteras sysselsättningsbegreppet i den svenska statistiken mer ingående. Kapitel tre innehåller en analys av tvärsnittsdata och studerar utbildnings - och familjerelaterade variablers inverkan på invandrarnas sysselsättningsintegration åren 1970 och 1990. I det... (More) - Popular Abstract in Swedish
Denna studie handlar om sysselsättningsintegrationen av manliga och kvinnliga invandrare i Sverige mellan 1970 och 1995. Första kapitlet inleds med en översikt av teorier och tidigare studier om invandrares sysselsättning. Utifrån denna formuleras ett antal hypoteser. Det andra kapitlet ger en översikt av den svenska migrationshistorien, invandrarnas karaktäristika samt den ekonomiska bakgrunden till den studerade perioden. Vidare diskuteras sysselsättningsbegreppet i den svenska statistiken mer ingående. Kapitel tre innehåller en analys av tvärsnittsdata och studerar utbildnings - och familjerelaterade variablers inverkan på invandrarnas sysselsättningsintegration åren 1970 och 1990. I det fjärde kapitlet görs en djupare studie av invandrares investering i ”landspecifika kunskaper” och förhållande till det nya landet och dessa faktorers påverkan på sannolikheten att få arbete åren 1970 och 1990. Kapitel fem innehåller en longitudinell studie där effekten av strukturell förändring och utbildning på invandrarnas arbetsmarknadsinträde analyseras. Resultaten från den longitudinella studie jämförs med resultaten från tvärsnittsstudierna från kapitel tre och fyra. Slutligen, i kapitel sex, summeras resultaten. Resultaten från denna studie är att svårigheterna att få arbete har ökad med tiden för både manliga och kvinnliga invandrare. Svårigheten att få arbete kan inte enbart tillskrivas invandrarnas förändrade formella humankapital utan beror också på förändringar i ekonomin. Både konjunkturella svängningar och strukturella förändringar har haft negativa effekter på invandrarnas sysselsättningsintegration. Framförallt innebar de tekniska och organisatoriska förändringarna under andra hälften av 1980-talet och första hälften av 1990-talet, en större efterfråga på arbetskraft med relativt sett bredare allmän kompetens samt social kompetens. Löpande band, automatisering och specialisering blev mer och mer ersatts av platta organisationer med arbetsrotation och självstyrande arbetslag. Utan att förneka betydelsen av formell utbildning, kan man konstatera att betydelsen av informell kunskap har ökat. Med detta menas ”kulturspecifik kompetens”, språkkunskaper, tyst kunskap, hur man arbetar i lag samt förståelse av hur olika arbetsmarknadsorganisationer fungerar. Det är också troligt att den större tonvikten på ”land specifika kunskaper” har lett till ökad förekomst av statistisk diskriminering. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/19738
- author
- Bevelander, Pieter LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Gustafsson, Björn
- organization
- publishing date
- 2000
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- naturalisation, context of reception, structural change, Sweden, labour market, employment, integration, Migration, immigrant, Social and economic history, Ekonomisk och social historia
- in
- Lund Studies in Economic History
- volume
- 15
- pages
- 235 pages
- publisher
- Almqvist & Wiksell International
- defense location
- Holger Crafoord Ekonomicentrum, Lund
- defense date
- 2000-12-15 10:15:00
- external identifiers
-
- other:ISRN: LUSADG/SAEH--2000/1058--SE
- ISSN
- 1400-4860
- ISBN
- 91-22-01904-9
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 51e9d46b-06eb-49f0-9f08-93d1d2b6667c (old id 19738)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 16:57:10
- date last changed
- 2019-05-21 18:35:20
@phdthesis{51e9d46b-06eb-49f0-9f08-93d1d2b6667c,
abstract = {{This study deals with the employment integration of immigrant men and women in Sweden between 1970 and 1995. The first chapter starts with a review of theory and previous studies on immigrant employment and from this a number of testable hypotheses are framed The second chapter gives an overview of Swedish immigration history, the composition of the immigrant population and the economic background in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. Furthermore, a discussion on the employment variable in Swedish statistics is undertaken. The third chapter contains an analysis of education and family-related factors on the employment integration of immigrants, in 1970 and 1990 using cross-sectional data. The fourth chapter is a more detailed study of immigrants’ investment in country-specific skills and commitment affecting the probability of obtaining employment in 1970 and 1990. The fifth chapter contains a longitudinal study, where the effects of structural change and education on the employment attachment of immigrant men and women are analysed. The results of the longitudinal study are related to the cross-sectional analysis in chapters three and four. Finally, in the sixth chapter, we sum up the results and make some concluding remarks. The results of the thesis are that the difficulty of obtaining employment for both immigrant men and women has been increasing during the course of the studied period. This difficulty of obtaining employment is found not only to be due to changing human capital characteristics among immigrants but also to changes in the economy. Both business cycle variation and structural changes in the Swedish economy are found to have had a negative influence on the employment integration of immigrants. Especially the technical and organisational changes during the middle of the 1980s and early 1990s, implied a greater demand for employees with a proportionately higher general competence and inter-personal skills. Unskilled labour was to largely made redundant by efficiency improvements. Serial production, automation and specialisation were increasingly replaced by teamwork, influence on working processes and varying assignments. Without reducing the demand for formal education and skill, the importance of informal skills has increased in this way. This informal competence includes, for instance, culture-specific proficiency, language skills, tacit knowledge and understanding of different patterns of behaviour in teamwork and in relations with authorities and labour market organisations. It is also probable that the increased stress on country-specific skills has led to an increase in statistical discrimination by employers.}},
author = {{Bevelander, Pieter}},
isbn = {{91-22-01904-9}},
issn = {{1400-4860}},
keywords = {{naturalisation; context of reception; structural change; Sweden; labour market; employment; integration; Migration; immigrant; Social and economic history; Ekonomisk och social historia}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Almqvist & Wiksell International}},
school = {{Lund University}},
series = {{Lund Studies in Economic History}},
title = {{Immigrant Employment Integration and Structural Change in Sweden, 1970-1995}},
volume = {{15}},
year = {{2000}},
}