Counting the uncountable : measuring migrant integration between origin and destination

Abstract

In this chapter we examine the integration of immigrants born in selected non-EU countries (China, Ecuador, India, Iran, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine) living in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the UK. The units of analysis are the so-called migrant corridors, i.e. a migrant community x in a destination country y. We adopt a multidimensional perspective by focusing on the integration of migrants in these corridors in the following three domains: labour market, education and access to citizenship. Our aim is to compare the level of integration of migrant corridors by dimension. Drawing on relevant micro-datasets, a set of basic integration indicators was identified for each dimension. Using the Principal Component Analysis technique, these basic indicators were synthesised into composite indicators, allowing us to rank migrant corridors both in terms of their absolute performances and compared with native outcomes.