Support or Obstacle? Effects of Immigrants on Domestic Labor Force in Turkey
Support or Obstacle? Effects of Immigrants on Domestic Labor Force in Turkey

Author(s): Atakan Durmaz, Özge Korkmaz
Subject(s): Geography, Regional studies, Labor relations, Evaluation research, Migration Studies
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Migration; migrants; labor market; labor force; participation rate;
Summary/Abstract: The phenomenon of migration, as old as human history, is one of the most interested subjects of countries in the 21st century, especially in the last 10 years. Undoubtedly, one of the important reasons for this is the fact that migration has significant influences on from economic to social life almost every subject in terms of both emigrating countries and receiving countries. The fact that economic factors and security problems are the main causes of migration movements also laid the groundwork for the work done in the field of economy to concentrate on this subject. At this point, there are also studies of the impact of receiving countries on labor market, although the impact of migrant movements on emigrating countries’ economy is largely a matter of focus. However, there is no consensus on the work done in this regard. As a matter of fact, some studies have found that immigrants have a negative effect on the labor market because they are willing to work at lower wages, while in some studies they have found that immigrants have a positive influence on the labor market by increasing labor supply in areas where the local labor does not want to work. At this point, Turkey has taken its place in studies in the literature as a country that both emigrating (especially from the early 1960s to the 1990s) and receiving country (especially in the last 10 years because of events happening in neighboring countries). Although the vast majorities are refugee status, a growing number of immigrants are involved in the labor market and this affects the position of the local labor force on the labor market. From this point of view, the effect of immigrants on the labor force participation rate of the local labor force has been examined by means of regression analysis, using immigrant data from 26 provinces in Turkey between 2011 and 2015. According to the study results; Migrants allowed to work in Turkey have a positive effect on the participation rate even if just a bit. From a gender perspective, it has been found that immigrants have positive effects on women's labor force participation rates. But, there has been no significant impact on the male labor force participation rate of migrants. In the study, there has been also found that the increase in the level of education of men has a positive effect on the labor force participation rate, while in women, it has been found to be a negative effect of the higher education graduation although the primary and high school graduation has a positive effect on the labor force participation rates.

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