Migrant labor market policies in the EU: an exploration of the trends and relationship with migrant labor market outcomes

This study focuses on trends in migrant labor market policy in the EU between 2007 to 2019. The Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) is used to track and analyze policy changes both in different policy areas and as a whole. A panel data analysis is used to explore the possible effects that policy has on migrant employment and employment gaps between mi-grants and EU citizens. The main questions are: • What have been the main trends in migrant labor policy over the period 2007 to 2019? • Have these changes in migrant labor policy been effective in increasing migrant em-ployment or reducing the employment gap between (non-EU) migrants and EU cit-izens? The questions are addressed through both a qualitative analysis of the trends in migrant labor market policy changes and a quantitative analysis of how these policies affect migrant em-ployment rates and the employment gap between migrants and EU citizens. The analysis is sensitive to the possibility of migrants dropping out of the labor force or “discouraged work-ers.” With a few exceptions, the main findings of the study are that policy is in general be-coming more open in the EU. Portugal has the most open labor market policies as of 2019 and there is no employment gap between migrants and non-migrants – a feature which does not occur in any other country during the time frame of interest. The quantitative analysis shows that more open labor market policies reduce the migrant-non-migrant employment gap by about 9-10 percent. Not surprisingly, the main policy measure which reduces the employment gap is if migrants have immediate access to a country’s labor market. The results highlight the substantial role that more open labor market policies are able to play in reducing employment gaps.