MIGRANTS ON THE LABOR-MARKET - OCCUPATION AL OPPORTUNITIES AS A REFLEX OF NATIONALITY AND SEX

In this paper the labor market opportunities of migrant workers coming from former Yugoslavia, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Turkey ar e analysed. These analyses are based on a public use file of the offic ial IAB employment sample. Labor market opportunities differ considera bly by gender and nationality, Turkish immigrants can be found in unsk illed and semi-skilled occupations above the average of all immigrant groups. In contrast the employment profile of immigrants from former Y ugoslavia and Spain is close to that of the German labor force. Foreig n women are more often concentrated in low skill positions than are fo reign men. In the female labor force the same nationality specific dif ferences can be observed as in the case of the male labor force. There are significant differences between foreign and German workers in reg ard to their employment structure. The chief domain of foreign employe es lies in unskilled and semiskilled industrial occupations. However a certain upward mobility to more favorable labor market positions has been observed. In particular, new entrants to the labor market can be found more often in positions as skilled workers. Those immigrants who have gone through the ''dual system'' of vocational training have goo d opportunities for job advancement. By means of an event history anal ysis (piecewise constant exponential model) it was possible to show th at for this group no significant differences vis-g-vis German entrants to the labor force can be found in regard to occupational changes and unemployment.