The Impact of 1970s Repatriates from Africa on the Portuguese Labor Market

This paper examines the labor market effect of the retornados who immigrated to Portugal from Angola and Mozambique in the mid-1970s following Portugal's loss of its African colonies. The retornados increased the Portuguese labor force by roughly 10% in just three years. Two analyses suggest co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Industrial & labor relations review 1996-01, Vol.49 (2), p.330-347
Main Authors: Carrington, William J., Pedro J. F. de Lima
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adverse effects
Africa
Angola
Case studies
Cities
Comparative analysis
Cubans
Developed Nations
Economic growth
Economic theory
Employment
Expatriate employees
Factors
Immigrants
Immigration
Industrialized nations
Labor Force Nonparticipants
Labor management relations
Labor Market
Labor markets
Labour market
Migration
Mozambique
Noncitizens
Occupational Mobility
Politics
Population dynamics
Population growth
Portugal
Real wages
Refugees
Repatriation
Return Migration
Romance Languages
Social aspects
Studies
Time series
Unemployment
Unemployment rates
Urban Areas
Urban Studies
Wage rates
Wages
Wages & salaries
Workforce
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Summary:This paper examines the labor market effect of the retornados who immigrated to Portugal from Angola and Mozambique in the mid-1970s following Portugal's loss of its African colonies. The retornados increased the Portuguese labor force by roughly 10% in just three years. Two analyses suggest contrasting conclusions. First, comparisons of Portugal with Spain and France indicate that any adverse effect of the retornados was quantitatively swamped by the Europe-wide downturn in labor market conditions in the 1970s. Second, comparisons between districts within Portugal indicate that the retornados may have had a strong adverse effect on Portuguese wages, suggesting that immigration may be considerably more harmful than previous case studies have concluded. The authors, however, regard the results of the within-Portugal analysis as less reliable than those of the comparison across countries.
ISSN:0019-7939
2162-271X
DOI:10.1177/001979399604900210