Metropolitan labour markets, peripheral labour markets and socio-economic outcomes among immigrants to Israel

This article focuses on the impact of the local opportunity structure on so cio-economic outcomes of recent immigrants to Israel. Specifically, it exam ines the extent to which metropolitan labour markets versus peripheral labo ur markets differentially affect socio-economic incorporation of recent "Ru ssian" immigrants who arrived in Israel after the collapse of the former So viet Union in 1989. Using the 1995 Israeli Census of Population, the analyses address the follo wing questions: (1) were recent immigrants differentially sorted to local l abour markets; (2) do local labour markets differentially affect socioecono mic attainment; and (3) do modes of socio-economic attainment and patterns of ethnic inequality differ across metropolitan and peripheral labour marke ts? The analyses reveal that immigrants from the European republics and of lowe r education are more likely to settle in peripheral labour markets than in metropolitan labour markets. Peripheral labour markets, compared with metro politan labour markets, have detrimental consequences for the socioeconomic outcomes of immigrants. The data do not provide strong support for the thesis that patterns of soci oeconomic attainment and inequality differ much across labour markets. The rules according to which socio-economic attainment of immigrants is determi ned are, for the most part, similar across labour markets. In general, occu pational status and earnings of immigrants are likely to increase with the passage of time, education, European origin; and to decline with age regard less of type of the local labour market. However, the socio-economic outcom es of immigrants are considerably higher in the metropolis than in the peri phery. The findings suggest that the local labour market plays a major role in the determination of immigrants' socio-economic rewards and outcomes.