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Identifying barriers to Muslim integration in France

Abstract
Is there a Muslim disadvantage in economic integration for second-generation immigrants to Europe? Previous research has failed to isolate the effect that religion may have on an immigrant family's labor market opportunities because other factors, such as country of origin or race, confound the result. This paper uses a correspondence test in the French labor market to identify and measure this religious effect. The results confirm that in the French labor market, anti-Muslim discrimination exists: a Muslim candidate is 2.5 times less likely to receive a job interview callback than is his or her Christian counterpart. A high-n survey reveals, consistent with expectations from the correspondence test, that second-generation Muslim households in France have lower income compared with matched Christian households. The paper thereby contributes to both substantive debates on the Muslim experience in Europe and methodological debates on how to measure discrimination. Following the National Academy of Sciences’ 2001 recommendations on combining a variety of methodologies and applying them to real-world situations, this research identifies, measures, and infers consequences of discrimination based on religious affiliation, controlling for potentially confounding factors, such as race and country of origin.
Footnotes
- 1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: dlaitin{at}stanford.edu.
This contribution is part of the special series of Inaugural Articles by members of the National Academy of Sciences elected in 2007.
Contributed by David D. Laitin, October 20, 2010 (sent for review May 21, 2010)
Author contributions: D.D.L. designed research; C.L.A., D.D.L., and M.-A.V. performed research; C.L.A., D.D.L., and M.-A.V. analyzed data; and C.L.A., D.D.L., and M.-A.V. wrote the paper.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1015550107/-/DCSupplemental.