Labour market effects of immigration on native-born workers - evidence from Italy

The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between immigration and domestic labour market in Italy, the country characterized by dominantly unskilled population movements. The research was carried out using the data obtained from statistical databases of following institutions Eurostat, OECD, ISTAT and UN regarding the labour market characteristics such as employment, unemployment, wages, education, participation rate, age and more. In order to introduce the concept of migration the theoretical background of the phenomenon was presented and the most significant terms and definitions discussed. The socio-economic effects of population movements were examined focusing firstly on the European and European Union countries, and later on the specific case of Italy. Subsequently, the relationship between immigration and labour market was examined on a larger sample - regression analysis was conducted using the data for 21 European countries (including Italy) across 20 years, from 2000 to 2020 using the random and fixed effects models. The adjustment of models was examined by using the appropriate tests. Firstly the model was constructed using only one explanatory variable, to which later on additional control variables were added. Main findings suggest that the share of the foreign population in the total population is statistically significant determinant of unemployment, wages and employment.