Labour
Volume 33, Issue 1, 2019, Pages 101-123

Cultural Values and Decision to Work of Immigrant Women in Italy (Article)

Scoppa V.* , Stranges M.
  • a Department of Economics, Statistics and Finance ‘Giovanni Anania’, University of Calabria, Ponte P.Bucci, Cubo 1/C, Rende CS, Italy
  • b Department of Economics, Statistics and Finance ‘Giovanni Anania’, University of Calabria, Ponte P.Bucci, Cubo 1/C, Rende CS, Italy

Abstract

We investigate the role of culture in explaining economic outcomes at individual level analyzing how cultural values from the home country affect the decision to work of immigrants in Italy. Following the ‘epidemiological approach’, we relate the probability of being in the labor force in Italy for immigrant women with the female labor force participation (LFP) in their country of origin, taken as a proxy of cultural heritage and gender role model, finding a strong positive impact. We show that this relationship cannot be attributed to human capital quality or discrimination and it is stronger for immigrants that maintained more intense ties with their origin countries. © 2018 CEIS, Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini and John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Author Keywords

[No Keywords available]

Index Keywords

womens employment gender role immigrant cultural heritage Italy womens status labor participation human capital
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85058141933&doi=10.1111%2flabr.12141&partnerID=40&md5=5876534b934473e40ea6e33e7d314415
DOI: 10.1111/labr.12141
ISSN: 11217081
Original Language: English