From Engineer to Taxi Driver? Language Proficiency and the Occupational Skills of Immigrants

Arbeitspapier

We examine the ability of immigrants to transfer the occupational human capital they acquired prior to immigration. We first augment a model of occupational choice to study the implications of language proficiency on the cross-border transferability of occupational human capital. We then explore the empirical predictions using information about the skill requirements from the O*NET and a unique dataset that includes both the last source country occupation and the first four years of occupations in Canada. We supplement the analysis using Census estimates for the same cohort with source country occupational skill requirements predicted using detailed human capital related information such as field of study. We find that male immigrants to Canada were employed in source country occupations that typically require high levels of cognitive skills, but rely less intently on manual skills. Following immigration, they find initial employment in occupations that require the opposite. Consistent with the hypothesized asymmetric role of language in the transferability of previously acquired cognitive and manual skills, these discrepancies are larger among immigrants with limited language fluency.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: GLO Discussion Paper ; No. 239

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity ; Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials ; Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers ; Job, Occupational, and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion ; Labor Discrimination ; Labor Standards: General
• Subject: occupational mobility ; language proficiency ; skills ; tasks ; human capital ; immigration ; field of study ; Canada ; point system ; economic immigrants ; entry class

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Imai, Susumu ; Stacey, Derek ; Warman, Casey
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Global Labor Organization (GLO)
• (where): Maastricht
• (when): 2018

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/180998
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET