Juan Prieto Rodríguez

El rendimiento del capital humano de los trabajadores extranjeros y nacionales en España

Introduction. In this paper we analyze the differences in the returns on education and years of service in the company between native and foreign workers’ salaries, paying special attention to the results as a function of workers’ origin. Methodology. To carry out the empirical analysis we estimate wage regressions using data provided by the Earnings Structure Survey 2002. This data set provides information on workers’ personal characteristics, including the country of origin, as well as information on their jobs and on the characteristics of the firm in which they are employed. Results. Results vary both across origin and level of education. Workers coming from European Union (EU) countries obtain a positive wage premium (relative to native workers) for all levels of education. For workers coming from non-EU countries, Latin America or Africa, with secondary or less than secondary education, this premium is negative. In the case of workers with university education, African workers are the most discriminated, obtaining 11% less than national workers. With respect to the effect on wages of years of service, both native and EU workers exhibit decreasing returns during most of their active service with the firm. On the contrary, in the case of all other workers, their wages increase with their years of service in the firm, and they do so at an increasing rate. Conclusions. Important differences exist in returns on education and years of service in the company depending on workers’ origin. While non-EU workers obtain the lowest returns on education, they receive greater wage increases as their seniority in the firm increases.