Skip Navigation

Journal of Refugee Studies 2003 16(2):113-146; doi:10.1093/jrs/16.2.113
© 2003 by Oxford University Press
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Mamgain, V.
Right arrow Articles by Collins, K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Off the Boat, Now Off to Work: Refugees in the Labour Market in Portland, Maine

Vaishali Mamgain1 and Karen Collins2

1 Department of Economics, University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME 2 Catholic Charities Maine Refugee and Immigration Services, Portland, ME

In Maine, refugees with good English skills at arrival earn the highest wages irrespective of educational attainment in their home country. This study of the labour market in Portland from 1996 to 2000 finds that amongst refugee men, the best predictor for higher wages is English proficiency, but for women education is an important factor. In the local economy, refugee women are over-represented as entrepreneurs. Amongst men who are not self-employed, age at arrival and work experience in the source country have no significant impact on wages. For both men and women, belonging to an established ethnic group yields beneficial effects in securing higher paid first jobs, but our qualitative research shows that it is social connections with the white community that translate into longer run success. Finally, for both men and women, it appears that the tightening labour market contributed to higher wages in the period studied.

Received July 2002. Revised February 2003.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.