ABSTRACT
This chapter describes recent trends in labor market institutions in three countries: United States (US), Canada, and Australia, showing that the most important differences probably have to do with earnings distributions and the power of organized labor in affecting them. It attempts to provide rough estimates of effects on immigrant entry-level status for specific groups based on differences in earnings distributions. The chapter presents an analysis of very important interurban differences in labor markets within the US. Labor markets have their most immediate effects on inequality by determining the distribution of earnings from employment and self-employment, measured before taxes. The analysis of low-end labor market segments on immigrant earnings involves three issues: the extent of segmentation along the three dimensions measured; the earnings effect of employment location within one of the low-end segments; and the effect that the size of the segment in a particular area has on immigrant earnings.
