The impact of immigration on the employment and wages of native workers

Abstract

We analyze the impact of the immigration influx that took place during the years 2000-2007 in Greece on labor market outcomes. We employ a search and matching framework that allows for skill heterogeneity and differential unemployment income (search cost) between immigrants and natives. Within such a framework, we find that skilled native workers, who complement immigrants in production, gain in terms of both wages and employment. The effects on unskilled native workers, who compete with immigrants, on the other hand, are ambiguous and depend first on the presence of a statutory minimum wage and second on the way that this minimum wage is determined. © 2013 Elsevier Inc.