Aperçu

Résumé (français)

Veuillez noter que les résumés n'apparaissent que dans la langue de la publication et peuvent ne pas avoir de traduction.

Résumé (anglais)

This paper explores the role of initial housing conditions on labour outcomes among new immigrants to Canada. We focus on a relevant housing feature: having arranged housing before landing. Within the framework of a dual search model, this variable can be naturally interpreted as having a better outside housing option and therefore a lower opportunity cost of searching for a job. We find that not pre-arranging housing is associated with worse labour outcomes among unskilled immigrants. This negative relationship is significant si x months after landing, but diminishes over time. We interpret these results as evidence that in the few months after landing, a costly search for housing may crowd out a newcomer’s job search and worsen immigrants’ labour outcomes.