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AIEL 2026


41st Conference of the Italian Association of Labour Economics

Department of Law
Roma Tre University 

Rome, 17-19 September 2026 

Which Types of Workers Populate the Italian Labour Market?


Presenter

Davide Fiaschi (University of Pisa)


Coauthors

Tealdi Cristina


Abstract

This paper investigates the role of worker heterogeneity in shaping labour market dynamics in Italy, with a particular focus on differences between migrants and natives. Building on the framework of \citet{GregoryMenzioWiczer2025}, we classify workers into three latent types—$\alpha$, $\beta$, and $\gamma$—that capture persistent differences in job-finding rates, employment stability, and earnings trajectories. Using longitudinal administrative data covering worker transitions between 2009 and 2020, we apply a grouped fixed-effects approach to identify these latent types and examine how their distribution varies across demographic and institutional dimensions. We assess whether migrants are disproportionately represented among the more unstable $\gamma$-type workers and how such composition effects amplify unemployment fluctuations. By linking empirical evidence to a search-theoretic model, the paper contributes to understanding how institutional dualism and migration interact to sustain inequality and employment instability in segmented labour markets.