This article examines immigrant/native-born wage inequalities among workers in two Western European countries: Sweden, social democratic and with comparatively low wage dispersion, and the United Kingdom, economically liberal and with comparatively high wage dispersion. The analysis includes immigrants from 26 countries of origin. Findings demonstrate that inequalities in terms of real wages are smaller in more egalitarian Sweden. However, in terms of relative positions within the labor market, inequalities are if anything smaller in the UK. These findings highlight the role of wage dispersion in magnifying immigrant disadvantage, but also the limits of wage compression for ameliorating barriers to immigrant opportunity. © 2010 by the Center for Migration Studies of New York.

[No Keywords available]

international migration United Kingdom immigrant wage gap international comparison labor market Sweden