Mats Hammarstedt

Immigrant self-employment in Sweden - its variation and some possible determinants

This paper examines self-employment among immigrants in Sweden. There are differences in the self-employment rate between immigrants and the native population and between different immigrant groups, both in the raw data and after controlling for variables such as age, gender, education and civil status. The study shows that non-Nordic immigrants in Sweden who arrived at an early date have higher self-employment rates than the native population. It seems as if self-employment among immigrants is to some extent positively correlated with time elapsed after arrival in the country. A number of possible explanations for the observed differences in self-employment between immigrants and natives and between different immigrant groups are presented in the study. Plausible explanations for the observed differences in self-employment rates are differences in traditions from the home country, differences in the labour market situation, and often a lack of knowledge among immigrants about the practical and formal matters an individual encounters when trying to establish a business.

Can discrimination in the housing market be reduced by increasing the information about the applicants

We investigate how increasing the information about applicants affects discrimination in the rental housing market. We let four fictitious applicants, two with typical Arab/Muslim names and two with typical Swedish names, use application letters containing different amounts of information to apply for apartments over the Internet in Sweden. The Arab/Muslim applicants received fewer responses from the landlords than did the Swedish applicants. All of the applicants gained by providing more information about themselves, but the amount of discrimination against the Arab/Muslim applicants remained unchanged, indicating that increasing the amount of information about the applicants will not reduce discrimination. (JEL J17)

Are Gay Men and Lesbians Discriminated against in the Hiring Process

This article presents the first field experiment on sexual orientation discrimination in the hiring process in the Swedish labor market. Job applications were sent to about 4000 employers in 10 different occupations in Sweden. Gender and sexual orientation were randomly assigned to applications. The results show that sexual orientation discrimination exists in the Swedish labor market. The discrimination against the gay male applicant and the lesbian applicant varied across different occupations and appears to be concentrated in the private sector. The results also show that the gay male applicant was discriminated against in typical male-dominated occupations, whereas the lesbian applicant was discriminated against in typical female-dominated occupations. Theoretical implications are discussed.

Detecting discrimination against homosexuals : Evidence from a field experiment on the Internet

This paper presents the first field experiment studying discrimination against homosexuals on the housing market. The study is conducted on the rental housing market in Sweden using the internet as a research platform. Two fictitious couples, one heterosexual and one male homosexual, apply for vacant rental apartments advertised by landlords on the internet. Our findings show that homosexual males are discriminated against on the Swedish housing market, since the homosexual couple gets far fewer call-backs and fewer invitations to further contacts and to showings of apartments than the heterosexual couple.

Self-Employment Among Immigrants in Sweden - an Analysis of Intragroup Differences

This paper examines intragroup differences in self-employment within different immigrant groups and the native population in Sweden with the help of 1990 Census data. Intragroup differences are observed among all the groups. The study shows that differences in self-employment rates between individuals with different educational attainment exist for some of the immigrant groups. For immigrants from Southern Europe and non-European immigrants as well as for natives, the propensity for self-employment is lower among individuals with higher education. Furthermore, the study also shows that there are intragroup differences defined by gender and point in time for immigration. Finally, the study observes small differences in self-employment earnings within the different immigrant groups.

The predicted earnings differential and immigrant self-employment in Sweden

This paper investigates the influence of the predicted earnings differential between self-employment and wage-employment on self-employment propensities among immigrants in Sweden. Immigrants from non-European countries have essentially lower earnings from self-employment and wage-employment than immigrants from European countries. It is found that the difference between an immigrants predicted earnings in self- and wage-employment has a strong influence on an immigrants self-employment decision. A one unit increase in the log differential between self-employment and wage-employment earnings increase the self-employment rate among immigrants by about 5 percentage points, suggesting that discriminatory wages in the wage-employment sector may push immigrants towards self-employment.

Immigrants' Relative Earnings in Sweden - A Cohort Analysis

This paper examines the earnings assimilation of immigrants in Sweden by applying a quantile regression approach on pooled data during the period 1990-99. Immigrants from Nordic and Western European countries have a smaller entry earnings disadvantage and slower rate of assimilation than other groups of immigrants. For some cohorts of immigrants from European countries the initial earnings disadvantage disappears after 15-20 years in Sweden, but as non-European immigrants suffered from very large entry earnings disadvantages, their earnings will not catch up with the earnings of natives during their first 20 years in Sweden. More recent non-European immigrant cohorts had a larger entry earnings disadvantage than previous ones. The immigration policy, discrimination, and the economic conditions may have contributed to the decline in the earnings assimilation of non-European immigrants. Copyright 2006 The Authors; Journal compilation 2006 CEIS, Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini and Blackwell Publishing Ltd..

Income from Work among Immigrants in Sweden

This paper uses a two-step Heckman approach to investigate to what extent there are differences in income from work between immigrants and natives in Sweden. Contrary to previous studies this study takes the selection effect, i.e. the probability of having an income from work, into account when calculating the effect on income from work of a change in any of the explanatory variables. Our study shows that when the selection effect is taken into account, the differences in income from work between immigrants and natives are smaller than when the selection effect is not considered. We find that immigrants have a lower income from work than the native population when we control for variables such as schooling, experience, civil status and region of residence. Furthermore, immigrant cohorts with a recent year of immigration have a considerably lower income from work than earlier immigrant cohorts. Copyright 2003 by the International Association for Research in Income and Wealth.

Inter‐ and Intra‐Household Earnings Differentials Among Homosexual and Heterosexual Couples

We present earnings differentials between homosexuals and heterosexuals. In line with previous research, we find that gay males earn less than heterosexual males, and that lesbians earn more than heterosexual females. However, when combining the individuals into households, our results are strikingly different: very small earnings differentials between gay households and heterosexual households are found. Lesbian households earn considerably less. The largest earnings inequalities between spouses are found among gay males followed by heterosexuals. Studying sexual orientation and earnings is complex, and household earnings have to be taken into consideration when conclusions are drawn.

Integration of Immigrants The Role of Language Proficiency and Experience

In this article, the authors evaluate a Swedish pilot scheme that targeted immigrants with weak Swedish-language skills registered as unemployed at public employment offices. By sandwiching work-oriented language teaching and practical workplace training, the project aimed at enhancing the employability of project participants but also at alerting them to and preparing them for available training and further education opportunities. For the evaluation, a comparison group of nonparticipants was selected using a propensity score methodology. The results show that participation in the pilot scheme project resulted in much speedier transfers from open unemployment to employment, training, and education.