The Gender Earnings Gap among Immigrants in Sweden : How does the immigrants’ gender earnings gap vary relative to the natives’ gender earnings gap in Sweden?

Abstract: Using data from 1999 on immigrants in Sweden, we find that the gender earnings gap among immigrant is lower than natives’ gender earnings gap and negatively related to their source country gender earnings gap. We also show that immigrants’ earnings are lower and more concentrated than the natives’ ones which leads to a lower gender earnings gap for immigrants. Then, regarding the gender earnings gap along the earnings distribution and linking it with earnings distribution of immigrants and natives, we are able to conclude that immigrants are not strongly affected by the glass ceiling effect since they are not present in the upper tail of the distribution. We reach the conclusion that such gender earnings gap differences between natives and immigrants may be explained by selection in the labour force participation, occupational segregation of immigrants, source country culture and discrimination.