Are new work practices and new technologies biased against immigrant workers?
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse if introduction of new technologies and work practices are negatively related to the employment opportunities of immigrants.
Design/methodology/approach
A representative plant-level panel survey merged with register data is used. Random effect regression Tobit models are estimated. The dependent variable is wage costs share of immigrants at the plant. The important explanatory variables are measures of new technologies and work practices.
Findings
The results show that workplaces where employees use personal computers intensively and have broad autonomy hire fewer non-western immigrants who have not been raised in Norway. The negative relationship is especially strong for low-skilled non-western immigrants.
Originality/value
The estimation framework for studying this topic is new. The paper also presents original evidence on the relationship between characteristics of the “new” economy and demand for immigrant workers.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Financial support from The Research Council of Norway (project number 156035/50) is gratefully acknowledged.
Citation
Rosholm, M., Røed, M. and Schøne, P. (2013), "Are new work practices and new technologies biased against immigrant workers?", International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 34 No. 8, pp. 995-1014. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-07-2013-0178
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited