Antonio Di Paolo (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Lorenzo Cappellari and Thompson Ogajah Tawiah
We study how language background shapes labour market outcomes in Catalonias bilingual labour market. Using repeated cross-sectional data, we construct a measure of linguistic distance between respondents native language and Catalan. We examine employment, the probability of holding a high-skilled job, and an ordinal measure of occupational skill. Conditional on place of origin, predetermined individual characteristics, and origin-specific years-since-migration trends, linguistic distance is not associated with employment overall. By contrast, it is negatively associated with both the likelihood of holding a high-skilled job and occupational skill levels. We show that this penalty operates through Catalan language proficiencyparticularly oral and written skillsrather than Spanish proficiency. Heterogeneity analysis further reveals an employment penalty for women, while the negative association between linguistic distance and occupational quality is concentrated among highly educated workers.