Jeffrey C. Dixon

Is it Race, Immigrant Status, or Both? An Analysis of Wage Disparities among Men in the United States

The intersection of race and immigrant status forms a unique social space where minority group members and immigrants are afforded or denied the privileges that are routinely accorded to native-born, non-Hispanic whites. Yet recent research on the intersection of race and immigrant status is inconsistent in its findings, limited to a small number of racial groups, and does not account for the geographic distribution of racial/ethnic groups. In this paper, we shed light on the intersection of race and immigrant status by answering two questions: (1) Do racial disparities in socioeconomic outcomes vary by nativity? and (2) Do native-immigrant disparities in socioeconomic outcomes vary by race? Using 2000 Census data linked to metropolitan area and sending country data, we find that racial disparities are similar and significant among natives and immigrants (Question 1). Asians, blacks, and Latinos fare significantly worse than their white counterparts in both the native and immigrant populations. Furthermore, our analysis of native-immigrant wage disparities by race reveals that the immigrant experience is considerably worse for Asians, blacks, and Latinos (Question 2). These groups also receive fewer wage returns to years spent in the U.S. and their wage disparities are magnified by the percentage of immigrants in a metropolitan area – whereas all whites receive a wage premium when living in an area with a larger share of immigrants. The results suggest that race and immigrant status work in concert to uniquely influence the social experience of immigrant minorities in the U.S.

Reexamining the Relationship Between Flexibility and Insecurity

Purpose – In this chapter, we examine individual- and country-level differences in perceived job insecurity in the 27 European Union countries (EU27) within a multilevel framework. Design/methodology/approach – We primarily focus on cross-national differences in perceived job insecurity in the EU27 and consider several possible explanations of it, including flexible employment practices, economic conditions, labor market structure, and political institutions. We examine both individual- and country-level determinants using multilevel partial proportional odds models based on individual-level data from the 2006 Eurobarometer 65.3 and country-level data from a variety of sources. Findings – We find that European workers feel most insecure in countries with high unemployment, low union density, low levels of part-time and temporary employment, relatively little social spending on unemployment benefits, and in post-socialist countries. Research limitations/implications – The findings from this study suggest that flexible employment practices do not necessarily cause workers to feel insecure in their jobs. This is likely due to the different nature of part-time and temporary employment in different institutional contexts. Originality/value – This study is one of the most comprehensive accounts of perceived job insecurity in Europe given the focus on a larger number of countries and macro-level explanations for perceived job insecurity.

For and against European Union expansion: Examining mixed opinion on enlargement and specific countries’ entries

European Union (EU) residents hold complex attitudes toward expanding the union not completely captured in extant models of enlargement opinion. We develop two-by-two matrices of support and opposition toward (1) enlargement and (2) a potential member’s entry. Descriptive analyses of 2006 Eurobarometer data reveal that, across two-by-two matrices for enlargement and 13 potential members’ entries, EU-25 residents often support enlargement and a potential member’s entry or oppose both. Yet, what we call ‘qualified support of enlargement’ – support for enlargement but opposition to a potential member’s entry – varies by potential and current members. Synthesizing literature on similar attitudinal combinations with research on enlargement opinion, we develop hypotheses to account for the individual- and country-level variation in qualified support of enlargement, relative to supporting enlargement and a potential member’s entry or opposing both. According to our multilevel multinomial logit results, individual-level factors such as education, political awareness, and political ideology are generally related to qualified support of enlargement; economic distance between current and potential EU members is related to the levels of qualified support of enlargement in member countries. However, attitudes toward enlargement and the entries of countries, such as Turkey, Albania, and Iceland are exceptions to some patterns. Our findings highlight the multidimensionality of EU enlargement attitudes and suggest that literature on similar attitudinal combinations should incorporate group dynamics into their models.

Who Is a Part-Time Worker Around the World and Why Does It Matter? Examining the Quality of Employment Measures and Workers’ Perceived Job Quality

ABSTRACT Theory and research do not fully account for the cross-national variation in part-time work definitions and measures, which may affect conclusions. Using the 2004 to 2009 International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) as a special case, this study analyzes the reliability of different part-time work measures for 47 countries, finding high levels of consistency between what resembles a country-specific measure and measures based on 30- and 35-hr thresholds. Bivariate analyses reveal that sex is consistently related to—and suggestive of the construct validity of—part-time measures, except in some non–Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Analyses of selected countries in 1 year indicate that the choice of part-time work measure matters for understanding workers’ perceptions of their earnings, advancement opportunities, and job security in a few countries. Our results yield good news for ISSP users but highlight the need for the more exhaustive conceptualization of part-time work we offer, research outside of the OECD, and care in interpreting data in some countries.

Opposition to Enlargement among “New” and “Old” Europeans: The Cases of Post-Communist EU Members and Candidates

AbstractAs the European Union (eu) continues to expands “eastward,” we know relatively little about enlargement opinion in post-Communist member states and toward post-Communist candidates’ entries. This article develops comparative explanations of enlargement opinion and examines attitudes toward the entries of post-Communist candidates (as of 2006: Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, and Macedonia). Descriptive and multinomial logit analyses of Eurobarometer data reveal that opposition is less pronounced in post-Communist versus other eu member states and somewhat less pronounced in post-Communist countries that began eu accession negotiations earlier. Anti-immigrant sentiment is a consistently weaker predictor of oppositional attitudes in post-Communist versus other eu member states. These and other differences warrant theoretical and empirical attention in eu research.

Turkey, Islam, and the EU

After the September 11th attacks on the United States, more than a few Americans came to believe that Islam andWestern Christianity were embroiled in a battle over fundamental differences–a “clash of civilizations,’ so to speak. But this rhetoric was neither new nor particular to the United States. Across the Atlantic for some time, in fact, it has been used in the debate over the proposed entry of Turkey, a Muslim country, into the European Union (EU).