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"It's not that I'm a racist, it's that they are Roma": Roma Discrimination and Returns to Education in South Eastern Europe

Author

Listed:
  • O'Higgins, Niall

    (ILO International Labour Organization)

Abstract
This paper uses a unique survey of Roma and non-Roma in South Eastern Europe to evaluate competing explanations for the poor performance of Roma in the labour market. The analysis seeks to identify the determinants of educational achievement, employment and wages for Roma and non-Roma. LIML methods are employed to control for endogenous schooling and two sources of sample selection bias in the estimates. Nonlinear and linear decomposition techniques are applied in order to identify the extent of discrimination. The key results are that: the employment returns to education are lower for Roma than for non-Roma whilst the wage returns are broadly similar for the two groups; the similar wage gains translate into a smaller absolute wage gain for Roma than for non-Roma given their lower average wages; the marginal absolute gains from education for Roma are only a little over one-third of the marginal absolute gains to education for majority populations; and, there is evidence to support the idea that a substantial part of the differential in labour market outcomes is due to discrimination. Explanations of why Roma fare so badly tend to fall into one of two camps: 'low education' vs. 'discrimination'. The analysis suggests that both of these explanations have some basis in fact. Moreover, a direct implication of the lower absolute returns to education accruing to Roma is that their lower educational participation is, at least partially, due to rational economic calculus. Consequently, policy needs to address both low educational participation and labour market discrimination contemporaneously.

Suggested Citation

  • O'Higgins, Niall, 2009. ""It's not that I'm a racist, it's that they are Roma": Roma Discrimination and Returns to Education in South Eastern Europe," IZA Discussion Papers 4208, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4208
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Drydakis, Nick, 2011. "Roma Women in Athenian Firms: Do They Face Wage Bias?," IZA Discussion Papers 5732, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Laetitia Duval & François-Charles Wolff, 2016. "Emigration intentions of Roma: evidence from Central and South-East Europe," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(1), pages 87-107, January.
    3. Lucia Mýtna Kureková, 2015. "Policy Puzzles with Roma Employment in Slovakia," Discussion Papers 34, Central European Labour Studies Institute (CELSI).
    4. Martin Kahanec, 2014. "Roma integration in European labor markets," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 1-39, May.
    5. O'Higgins, Niall & Brüggemann, Christian, 2013. "The Consequences of Cumulative Discrimination: How Special Schooling Influences Employment and Wages of Roma in the Czech Republic," IZA Discussion Papers 7668, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Stacy J. Kosko, 2012. "Educational Attainment and School-to-work Conversion of Roma in Romania: Adapting to Feasible Means or Ends?," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(3), pages 415-450, August.
    7. Penka Kovacheva, 2011. "Human capital and wage inequality during transition: evidence from Bulgaria," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 237-255.
    8. Rauh, Christopher, 2018. "Decomposing Gaps Between Roma And Non-Roma In Romania," Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 84(2), pages 209-229, June.
    9. Prosper F. Bangwayo‐Skeete & Precious Zikhali, 2011. "Social exclusion and labour market outcomes: evidence from Eastern Europe and Central Asia," International Journal of Development Issues, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 10(3), pages 233-250, September.
    10. Claudia Trentini, 2014. "Ethnic patterns of returns to education in Bulgaria," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 22(1), pages 105-137, January.
    11. O'Higgins, Niall, 2013. "Ethnicity and Gender in the Labour Market in Central and South East Europe," IZA Discussion Papers 7667, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Aisa, Rosa & Larramona, Gemma, 2014. "Labour market outcomes in the Roma population of Spain," MPRA Paper 59866, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Laetitia Duval & François-­charles Wolff, 2015. "" I Even Met Happy Gypsies " : Life Satisfaction of Roma Youth in the Balkans," Working Papers hal-01219250, HAL.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    returns to education; Roma; discrimination; transition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C35 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • P23 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Factor and Product Markets; Industry Studies; Population

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