Do immigrants displace young native workers: The Austrian experience

This paper studies the effect of increased immigration in Austria on the unemployment risk of young natives. Austria experienced a dramatic rise in the share of alien workers as a result of the breakdown of the former communist regimes (especially from former Yugoslavia). We concentrate on unemployment entry of young male workers, who are supposed to compete most heavily with new immigrants. Our results indicate that the detrimental impact – if it exists at all – is only minor. This is irrespective of the analyzed proxy for competition: The share of foreign workers in an industry or in a region. Received: 7 March 1996/Accepted: 20 March 1998