Do labour market conditions shape immigrant-native gaps in employment outcomes? A comparison of 19 European countries

This article draws from different theoretical and empirical literatures to analyse the role of socioeconomic and regulatory conditions on immigrant-native gaps across four outcomes; unemployment, monthly earnings, underemployment, and precarious contracts. The empirical results suggest that immigrant-native gaps are larger in countries with more immigrants. Evidence also indicates that a stricter regulation of regular contracts increases the immigrant-native earnings gap and immigrants' chances of holding temporary contracts. A stricter regulation of temporary contracts increases immigrants' risk of unemployment and underemployment. A higher union density appears to suppress wage differences across some immigrant groups, rather than in comparison to natives.