Safety at work and immigration
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Safety at work and immigration 1,2 · Nicolau Martin Bassols2,3 · Judit Vall Castello2,4 ´ Cristina Belles-Obrero
Received: 30 July 2019 / Accepted: 16 July 2020 / Published online: 2 7 September 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract This paper examines the effect of immigration on workplace safety, an understudied outcome in the literature. We use a novel administrative dataset of the universe of workplace accidents reported in Spain from 2003 to 2015 and follow an instrumental variables (IV) strategy based on the distribution of early migrants across provinces. Our results show that the massive inflow of immigrants between 2003 and 2009 reduced the number of workplace accidents by 10,980 for native workers (7% of the overall reduction during that period). This decline in workplace accidents is driven by Spanish-born workers shifting away from manual occupations to occupations involving more interpersonal interactions. Immigrant flows during the economic crisis (2010–2015) had no impact on natives’ workplace safety. The scarcity of jobs during that period may have prevented shifts between occupations. Finally, we find no effects of immigration on the workplace safety of immigrants. These results add a previously unexplored dimension to the immigration debate that should be taken into account when evaluating the costs and benefits of migration flows. Keywords Immigration · Workplace accidents · Safety at work JEL Classification J61 · J28 · I1
1 Introduction Immigration and its potential consequences continue to be a major concern in many developed countries. The current refugee crisis in the European Union, Brexit, and Responsible editor: Klaus F. Zimmermann We are very grateful to the Editor, Klaus F. Zimmermann, and the three anonymous referees for their helpful comments during the revision process. We are also thankful to seminar and workshop participants at the Econometric Society European Winter Meeting, Simposio de la Asociaci´on Espa˜nola de Econom´ıa, 2nd CRC TR 224 Workshop for Young Researchers, and Jornada Immigraci´o i Salut. Cristina Bell´es-Obrero
[email protected] Extended author information available on the last page of the article.
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Donald Trump’s determination to construct a wall along the Mexico-US border are just examples of how immigration is at the forefront of political debates in developed countries. But what is the source of the immense preoccupation over immigration? There is an unsubstantiated fear that immigration has detrimental effects on many socioeconomic variables, such as criminality, health, and labor outcomes. This paper contributes to the existing literature by examining the effect of immigration inflows and outflows on a new and previously neglected outcome: workplace safety. Workplace accidents entail massive economic and social costs. They affect not only individuals involved in the accidents, but the society as a whole. According to Takala et al. (2014), 2.3 million individuals died worldwide in 2012 as a result of workplace-related
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