DP7092 Naturalization and Employment of Immigrants in France (1968-1999)

Author(s): Denis Fougère , Mirna Safi

Publication Date: December 2008

Keyword(s): citizenship , employment , immigration , naturalization

JEL(s): F22 , J15 , J61

Programme Areas: Labour Economics

Link to this Page: www.cepr.org/pubs/dps/DP7092.asp.asp

Our study examines the empirical link between the naturalization of immigrants and their subsequent employment status in France from 1968 to 1999. For that purpose, we use longitudinal data coming from a panel dataset which follows almost 1% of the French population from 1968 to 1999 through information contained in the 1968, 1975, 1982, 1990 and 1999 French censuses. The dataset we use is especially valuable for studying social integration of immigrants since it allows us to deal with significant samples of immigrants, according to their origin country, these groups being generally too small in other surveys. We control for the potential endogeneity of the naturalization process through a bivariate probit model. We find that naturalization has a significant positive relationship with immigrants’ subsequent employability. This is particularly true for groups of immigrants who have a low probability of employment in the host country.