The determinants of destination language proficiency and its impact on labor market outcomes among immigrants in Spain

This dissertation uses micro-data from the Spanish National Immigrant Survey (Encuesta Nacional de Inmigrantes-ENI in Spanish) carried out in 2007 among immigrants in Spain. In recent years, Spain has received unprecedented immigration flows. The economic assimilation of immigrants is crucial for keeping a cohesive and stable society. As a consequence, immigrants need to invest in human capital since it plays a crucial role in determining their economic status. This dissertation analyzes the determinants of Spanish and regional language fluency among immigrants in Spain. The results show that higher levels of education are associated with a higher Spanish and regional speaking proficiency. The impact of education on language acquisition is stronger for men than for women. Moreover, educational attainment and destination language ability are two essential components of human capital of migrants. As a result, the nature of the immigrants' labor market participation and their earnings are closely mediated by their host language proficiency and level of schooling. The dissertation carries out an analysis of the impact of Spanish language ability and schooling on the likelihood of full-time employment and wages among immigrants in Spain. The results indicate that both greater educational attainment and higher Spanish speaking proficiency are associated with an increase in the probability of holding a full-time job. However, greater language proficiency does not have a statistically significant positive impact on salaries.;JEL classification: F22, J24, J61;Keywords: Immigration, Language, Education, Occupational Success, Wages...