Jeffrey G. Reitz

Immigrant Success in the Knowledge Economy: Institutional Change and the Immigrant Experience in Canada, 1970–1995

This research examines how institutional changes associated with the emergence of a “knowledge economy”—specifically the expansion of education and the changing labor market structure —shaped employment experiences of newly arriving immigrants to Canada over the period 1970–1995. Census data on successive cohorts of immigrant men and women (from microdata files for 1981, 1986, 1991, and 1996) show a progressive trend toward lower rates of labor force participation and lower levels of earnings relative to the native-born population, both overall and for most specific origins groups. These trends are only partly attributable to business cycle fluctuations in labor demand. The present article examines the impact of selected educational and labor market changes on successive cohorts of immigrants, using intertemporal substitution methodology. The analysis finds that (1) increased native-born education levels infringe upon the traditional immigrant education advantage, outpacing effects of increased immigrant skill selectivity; (2) increased returns to education among native-born workers do not apply to immigrants; and (3) other institutional obstacles to immigrant success also exist. The declining relative value of immigrant education may be due to the location-specific nature of credential validation processes. Directions for further research and policy analysis are suggested.

Culture, Race, and the Economic Assimilation of Immigrants

The economic assimilation of European-origin immigrants is fairly rapid but selectively culture contingent; the economic assimilation of racial minority immigrants is less rapid and less culture contingent. Regression analysis of survey data examines occupational status and earnings effects of eight ethnic attachments among men and women in seven ethnic and racial minorities in mainstream and enclave employment in Toronto (N = 1792), controlling for foreign and domestically acquired human capital. Assimilationist pressures that the survey showed to be widely perceived may apply more to Europeans than to racial minorities. Economic assimilation is affected when “foreignness” is most pronounced: very selectively for European immigrants and universally for racial minorities treated as “foreign,” presumably based on skin color, regardless of specific culture, identity, behaviors, or network affiliations.

Host Societies and the Reception of Immigrants: Research Themes, Emerging Theories and Methodological Issues.

Research on the reception and integration of immigrants now recognizes more explicitly the impact that characteristics of societies have as they play host to immigrants. This brief introduction to six papers – by Kasinitz, Mollenkopf and Waters; Boyd; Model and Lin; Borjas; Martin; and Castles – shows how they reflect a research emphasis on four interrelated features of host societies: 1) pre-existing ethnic and race relations, 2) labor markets and related institutions, 3) government policies and programs both for immigration and for broader institutional regulation, and 4) the changing nature of international boundaries, part of the process of globalization. Cultural dimensions permeate analyses of each of these four aspects. Together with others in a larger collection of 18 papers developing this theme (scheduled for publication as a book by the Centre for Comparative Immigration Studies, University of California at San Diego), the various analyses suggest elements useful in constructing a theory of immigrant reception and incorporation taking proper account of the impact of host societies.

An Introduction to Applied Sociology.

The authors develop a theory of social science utilization that focuses on cognitive processes and their relation to the social context of interaction between social scientists and policy-makers. Their comprehensive approach to the theory of utilization is based on the full range of available case material.

Race, Religion, and the Social Integration of New Immigrant Minorities in Canada

The social integration of Canadas new religious minorities is determined more by their racial minority status than by their religious affiliation or degree of religiosity, according to results from Statistics Canadas 2002 Ethnic Diversity Survey. Interview questions tap life satisfaction, affective ties to Canada, and participation in the wider community. Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Hindus are slower to integrate socially, mainly because they are mostly racial minorities. Degree of religiosity affects social integration in the same ways as ethnic community attachments in general, positively for some dimensions, negatively for others, and similarly for different religious groups. Patterns are similar in Quebec and the rest of Canada; results carry implications for the debate over “reasonable accommodation” of religious minorities in Quebec, and parallel debates in other provinces and countries.

The institutional framework of ethnic employment disadvantage: A comparison of Germany and Canada

Abstract Foreigners in Germany differ from immigrants in Canada in the patterns, more than the overall extent, of employment disadvantage. Conventional earnings decomposition analysis is extended cross‐nationally to highlight differences in ethnic disadvantages within labour markets, and also differences in effects of the structure of educational and labour market institutions themselves, using the German Socio‐Econ‐omic Panel (GSOEP) first wave for 1984, and the 1986 Canadian Census. German education and labour market institutions benefit low‐skill migrants, but generate less earnings assimilation. Such assimilation in Canada is greater but varies more by ethnic and racial origins. Migrant women in Germany receive a boost from the lower educational levels of mainstream German women, and from greater German labour market equity. These cross‐national differences support some of the expectations based on characterisations of ‘immigrant societies’, or differences in national policies of citizenship, equity o...

The distinctiveness of Canadian immigration experience

ABSTRACT Canadas experience with immigration has been comparatively positive and mass immigration has considerable popular support within the country. The distinctive Canadian policy model—including large numbers with skill-based selection, multiculturalism and other policies aimed at promoting integration, and provincial autonomy—deserves international attention. However, Canadas success with immigration is only partly related to its policies and these may not be easily transferable to other contexts. Skill-based immigrant selection may be the most important feature of the Canadian model contributing to its success, and the effectiveness of this policy is clearly contingent on border control, which in the case of Canada is facilitated by geographical isolation. Canadas symbolic commitment to multiculturalism emphasizes the social integration of immigrants and this goal is also served by significant social services supporting settlement and language acquisition. The most significant distinctive feature of the Canadian approach to immigration may be the belief that immigration represents a positive opportunity to build the economy and develop the country. This belief represents a resource helping the country address some of the current problems confronting immigration, including reduced employment success of immigrants and evidence that racial divisions have significance particularly for certain groups. The belief in mass immigration as a positive resource and development opportunity underlies much of the positive discourse on immigration in Canada.

The Institutional Structure of Immigration as a Determinant of Inter-Racial Competition: A Comparison of Britain and Canada.

This study attempts to explain differences between Britain and Canada in the reception given to immigrant racial minorities in the post-war years. It is suggested that among the factors relevant to this explanation, importance should be attributed to cross-national differences in the institutional structure of immigration itself. Supporting comparative evidence comes from published research, public opinion polls, newspaper records, parliamentary debates, and the legislative records. The institutional structure of immigration differed between Britain and Canada in ways that appear to have affected race relations. These institutions, imbedded in national and international economic and political structures, reflect the interests and viewpoints of groups located within those structures. In this context, structural change can directly affect the sense of inter-racial competition within immigration institutions, with implications for race relations. This study provides two contrasting cases illustrating these processes.

Workplace equality : international perspectives on legislation, policy and practice

Preface. 1. Systemic Discrimination in Employment: Mapping the Issue and the Policy Responses C. Agocs. 2. Employment Equity in Selected Countries: The Case of Racial and Ethnic Minorities H.C. Jain. 3. Unfinished Business: Employment Equality in Australia G. Strachan, J. Burgess. 4. Canadas Employment Equity Legislation and Policy, 1986-2000: Unfulfilled Promises C. Agocs. 5. Employment Equity Legislation in Ontario: A Case Study in the Politics of Backlash A.B. Bakan, A. Kobayashi. 6. Repeal of the Ontario Employment Equity Laws: Denial of Equal Protection of the Law C. Eboe-Osuji, E. McIsaac. 7. Gender Equality in India H.C. Jain, C.S. Venkata Ratnam. 8. Between Public Controversy and Market Initiative: The Politics of Employment Equity and Diversity in the Netherlands F.J. Glastra, et al. 9. Multiculturalism with a Price Tag: On the Theory and Practice of Intercultural Management in the Netherlands F.J. Glastra, et al. 10. Northern Ireland - Gender, Race and the New Equality Agenda S. Rogers. 11. Employment Equity in South Africa: Overcoming the Apartheid Legacy F.M. Horwitz, H.C. Jain. 12. Affirmative Action in American Employment Law: Past, Present and Future M.F. Radford. 13. Pay and Employment Equity: The Role of Markets, Collective Bargaining and Legislation M. Gunderson. Subject Index.

Closing the Gaps Between Skilled Immigration and Canadian Labor Markets: Emerging Policy Issues and Priorities

Although Canada’s immigration policy has long emphasized the selection of highly skilled immigrants—and since the 1990s, preferably those with high levels of post-secondary education—certain critical gaps have emerged between this skilled immigration emphasis and what actually happens in Canadian labor markets. Emphasis on education is usually described as necessary to meet the demand for skilled workers, projected to become more severe over time because of the requirements of an emerging knowledge economy. However, there are three major “gaps” between this skilled immigration and the actual role of immigrants in Canadian labor markets.