Native–immigrant wage gap
Evidence from the massive Venezuelan exodus to Chile
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24217775 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Marcela Parada‐contzen (0000-0002-5649-7592, University of Concepción), Catalina Zurita (University of Concepción) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Publication date | 2026-09-17 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Migration Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2049-5838 • E-ISSN: 2049-5846 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/migration/mnag055 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 48 |
Chile has historically had very low immigration rates. However, the Venezuelan crisis shifted this trend. From 2017 to 2022, the share of Venezuelan workers among total migrant workers in Chile increased by more than 200 per cent. Using individual-level data from 2022, we estimate the native–Venezuelan wage gap in Chile. We find a significant wage penalty for Venezuelans, but the results differ by gender and position in the wage distribution. On average, at the mean of the wage distribution, observable characteristics do not explain wage penalties for men, whereas women exhibit a similar gap despite observed characteristics that predict higher earnings, leading to a large unexplained gap. Distributional analysis shows that for Venezuelan men, wage differences are negligible at the lower end of the distribution but become increasingly negative from the median onward, with the largest wage penalties observed among higher-paid workers. These differences are driven primarily by unexplained factors rather than observable characteristics. Venezuelan women also experience persistent wage penalties across much of the wage distribution, particularly from the median to the upper-middle quantiles, with most of the gap remaining unexplained. Finally, we compare the results with those of other South American migrants and find that Venezuelans exhibit distinct patterns. Colombians show wage parity with natives, whereas other groups exhibit wage gaps largely accounted for by differences in observable characteristics.
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| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |