Mirna Safi

Naturalization and employment of immigrants in France (1968‐1999)

Our study examines the empirical link between the naturalization of immigrants and their subsequent employment status in France from 1968 to 1999. For that purpose, we use longitudinal data coming from a panel dataset which follows almost 1% of the French population from 1968 to 1999 through information contained in the 1968, 1975, 1982, 1990 and 1999 French censuses. The dataset we use is especially valuable for studying social integration of immigrants since it allows us to deal with significant samples of immigrants, according to their origin country, these groups being generally too small in other surveys. We control for the potential endogeneity of the naturalization process through a bivariate probit model. We find that naturalization has a significant positive relationship with immigrants’ subsequent employability. This is particularly true for groups of immigrants who have a low probability of employment in the host country.

Social housing and location choices of immigrants in France

Our study examines the empirical links between social housing policy and location choices of immigrants in France. More specifically, we characterize the main individual and contextual determinants of the probability for immigrants to live in a HLM (habitations a loyer modere, dwelling with a moderate rent), which is the main public housing policy in France. For that purpose, we use individual information coming from large (one-fourth) extracts of the French population censuses conducted by INSEE (Paris) in 1982, 1990, and 1999. Our estimates show that, in general, migrants live more frequently in social housing than French natives, other observables being equal. In particular, this probability is higher for migrants from Turkey, Morocco, Southeast Asia, Algeria, Tunisia and Sub-Saharan Africa (in descending order). We find also that migrants of all origins live less often in a HLM when the city has plenty of social housing and when the fraction of natives is high.

Local Ethnic Composition and Natives’ and Immigrants’ Geographic Mobility in France, 1982–1999:

This article provides empirical results on patterns of native and immigrant geographic mobility in France. Using longitudinal data, we measure mobility from one French municipality (commune) to another over time and estimate the effect of the initial municipality’s ethnic composition on the probability of moving out. These data allow us to use panel techniques to correct for biases related to selection based on geographic and individual unobservables. Our findings tend to discredit the hypothesis of a “white flight” pattern in residential mobility dynamics in France. Some evidence does show ethnic avoidance mechanisms in natives’ relocating. We also find a strong negative and highly robust effect of co-ethnics’ presence on immigrants’ geographic mobility.

Better residential than ethnic discrimination! Reconciling audit and interview findings in the Parisian housing market

This article investigates discrimination and the interplay of residential and ethnic stigma on the French housing market using two different methods: paired-testing audit study of real-estate agencies and face-to-face interviews with real-estate agents. Findings lead to a paradox: interviews reveal high levels of ethnic discrimination but little to no residential discrimination, while the audit study shows that living in deprived suburbs is associated with a lower probability of obtaining an appointment for a housing vacancy but ethnic origin (signalled by the candidate’s name) has no significant discriminatory effect. We have three priors potentially consistent with this apparent paradox and re-evaluate their likelihood in light of these findings: (1) agents make use of any statistical information about insolvency, including residency; (2) there are two distinct and independent taste discriminations, one about space and one about ethnicity; (3) these two dimensions exist and complement each other.

Varieties of Transnationalism and Its Changing Determinants across Immigrant Generations: Evidence From French Data1

In this article, I use the French Trajectories and Origins survey to describe patterns and trends of cross-border ties across immigrant generations. Transnational activities are measured through a wide range of cross-border ties, grouped into three dimensions: sociopolitical, economic, and a third dimension that I call re-migration. Three sets of determinants are taken into account: variables measuring exposure to the country of origin, variables describing incorporation in the host country, and variables that are specific to each generation. Conversely to the straight-line assimilation paradigm, the findings put the analytical power of the generational variable into perspective by (1) highlighting the wide variability of transnationalism within each generation and (2) measuring distinct intergenerational trends along different types of cross-border engagement. A thorough investigation of the sources of within-generation heterogeneity emphasizes the explanatory power of state-level, religious, and ethnoracial variables.

Is there really such thing as immigrant spatial assimilation in France? Desegregation trends and inequality along ethnoracial lines

This article describes patterns of ethnoracial and socioeconomic neighborhood attainment among North African, sub-Saharan African, and South European immigrants in France. We use French data from Trajectories and Origins to document the effects of assimilation variables such as immigrant generation, age at migration, parental age at migration, mixed ascendance, and socioeconomic status that are rarely available in large scale surveys. A simultaneous equation design is used to show patterns in ethnoracial and socioeconomic desegregation across groups and the contrasting ways in which these outcomes overlap. The findings highlight the weak impact of assimilation variables in accounting for spatial trajectories compared to the predominance of ethnoracial group, and document a higher risk of cumulative spatial disadvantage among North Africans and sub-Saharan Africans. The conclusion discusses the implications of these findings for understanding the ethnoracial dimensions of socio-spatial stratification in France.

Discrimination in France: Between Perception and Experience

One of the key objectives of the TeO survey was to collect information on all types of discrimination (sex, ethnicity and skin colour, age, religion, sexual orientation, etc). For this purpose, questions about perceptions and experience of discrimination were asked in different sections of the questionnaire. This chapter approaches discrimination by using different indicators referring to representations of discrimination, self-reported experience of discrimination and situations involving discrimination in various areas of social life. The subjective and more objective reported occurrences of discrimination are analysed by gender, generation and ethnicity. We obtain important findings which demonstrate that 1) ethnic and racial discrimination is the most prevalent form of discrimination reported in the survey; 2) visible minorities are the most frequent targets of discrimination, mainly based on their ethnicity and skin colour; 3) in their self-reported experience of discrimination, ethnic minorities tend to underestimate rather than exaggerate its frequency. Experience of discrimination and of othering are also highly correlated and there is a significant impact of religion, for Muslims, on the risk of reporting discrimination.

Promoting Diversity in French Workplaces: Targeting and Signaling Ethnoracial Origin in a Colorblind Context

The author analyzes the implementation of diversity policies in France within a traditionally colorblind institutional and cultural context. Using a mixed-method research design, the author focuses on a specific diversity program, gathering qualitative and quantitative data on persons involved in its implementation as well as on its recipients. The author also collects qualitative materials covering institutional actors (governmental services and state agencies) and field actors (associations and economic organizations). The analyses aim to investigate two main questions: (1) What are the population categories targeted by diversity programs, and how are they referred to in the colorblind political and legal context of France? (2) How do the program’s recipients signal categories that make them eligible, and how do they interpret their disadvantage in the job market? The findings highlight the limits of diversity policies in the French colorblind context as they fail to empower both their makers and their recipients.