Social Capital and Its Effect on Labour Market (Mis)match: Migrants’ Overqualification in Germany

Abstract

If a person is overqualified in the sense that an employee’s level of training exceeds the job requirements, then some human capital lies idle and cannot be converted into appropriate (monetary and non-monetary) returns. Migrants are particularly at risk of being overqualified in their employment; however, this phenomenon cannot be fully explained by differences in human capital or socio-economic characteristics. This paper examines whether social capital plays a decisive role in migrants’ risk of overqualification in Germany. Using data from the German IAB-SOEP Migration Sample, we analyse the job search process of migrants to determine whether social networks influence their risk of being employed below their acquired educational level. We estimate logistic regression models and find that social capital influences the adequacy of migrants’ jobs: We show that migrants are at a greater risk of overqualification if they use only informal job search strategies such as relying on friends or family members. Moreover, we find that homophilous migrant networks and jobs in employment niches are risk factors for overqualification. We conclude that the combination of informal job search modes and homophilous migrant networks leads to a comparably high risk for migrants of being overqualified in their employment in the German labour market.

Adaptação do Questionário de Sobrequalificação Cognitiva Percebida (QSCP) para a Língua Portuguesa: Uma Abordagem Mista para Avaliar a Validade de Construto no Contexto das Migrações

“…Considerando a teoria de ajustamento da pessoa ao ambiente, quando os funcionários identificam um desajuste ao nível das oportunidades e das ofertas, aqueles em sobrequalificação percebida estarão mais sujeitos à frustração (Erdogan et al, 2011a), o que pode potencialmente gerar mais sentimentos negativos (Yu et al, 2019) às suas qualificações (Kracke & Klug, 2021). Os resultados também sugerem que estes imigrantes se identificam menos com o país de acolhimento, expressando uma maior vontade de sair de Portugal, o que pode ser resultado de as redes dos imigrantes brasileiros em Portugal, não serem redes apoiantes, predominando a desconfiança e a competição (Padilla, 2006).…”

The value of immigrants' human capital for labour market integration

“…Empirical research with this focus has for example, shown that immigrants using informal job search methods have worse labour market outcomes than comparable natives, interpreted as happening because of the immigrants' lower amounts of social capital (Behtoui, 2008;Kracke & Klug, 2021). It is also common to differentiate between social contacts with other co-ethnics or other immigrants, and social contacts with natives, i.e., between bonding and bridging social capital.…”

The Role of Civil Society in the Labour Market Integration of Migrants in Europe: An Introduction

“…Moreover, labour market integration is sometimes prevented by the societal context, including different forms of 'othering' (ranging from the stereotyping of migrants to racism or discriminatory behaviours) that discourage newcomers from working or that expose them to exploitation and harassment in their workplace (C ˇane ˇk, 2016; Greenspan et al, 2018). Furthermore, given the important role that social connections still play for people finding employment in Europe, the lack of social capital (or the reliance upon primarily an ethnic-bonding cluster of social interactions) might also prevent migrants from finding decent jobs (Aguilera, 2002;Kracke & Klug, 2021).…”