Economic outcomes and immigrants’ self-identification

Abstract

The issue of ethnic identity is attracting a growing number of researchers from different disciplines, due to its high explanatory potential. Most of the empirical literature on the topic focuses on economic features of immigrants’ living conditions, highlighting the prominent role of the identity in affecting income, home ownership, and employment. However, such research studies have yielded heterogeneous and mixed results. Therefore, more analyses should be addressed producing more conclusive evidence on such a relevant issue. The objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of ethnic identity on the immigrants’ probability of being employed, exploiting data stemming from the multipurpose survey on “Social Condition and Integration of Foreign citizens” carried out by ISTAT in 2011-2012.