Conference Paper
Migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa in Tunisia: A Storm in A Teacup?
No.
ERF_31_LB220
Publisher
ERF
Date
March, 2025
Topic
J. Labor and Demographic Economics
This paper investigates the impact of sub-Saharan African immigrants on the Tunisian labor market, as well as their economic, social, and psychological integration patterns, with a focus on the migration influx since the Tunisian uprising of 2010-11. Using annual micro-level household labor force surveys and data from the last two population censuses on the concentration of immigrants by country of origin, we identify the impact of sub-Saharan Africans on the Tunisian labor market. Furthermore, the paper uses the first Tunisia Households International Migration Survey (Tunisia-HIMS) to understand the labor market results of sub-Saharan immigrants and their social integration compared to immigrants of other origin. Using a difference-in-differences (DiD) research design, we find a negative and significant immediate impact of sub-Saharan immigrants on the average annual earnings of local workers in micro-firms in the retail trade and food service sectors between 2011 and 2014. After 2014, there is a significant negative impact on employment in low value-added sectors, particularly in the building sector. The results of the Multidimensional Integration Index show that social and psychological integration is particularly challenging for sub-Saharan immigrants, especially for young people, the uneducated and women.
Research Fellows
Mohamed Amara
Associate Professor, Higher School of Economic and...