The purpose of this paper is to examine the differential impact of
EPL on the labor market outcomes of natives and immigrants, in
particular to ask whether immigrants gain a comparative advantage
relative to natives in highly regulated labor markets. This could be the
case if immigrants are less covered by EPL than natives. Because the
analysis here focuses solely on legal immigrants, there is no difference
between the legal status of natives and immigrants, so the same
employment protection regulations apply to both. However, being
new to the country, immigrants may be less informed about their
rights and may, for example, not seek to claim compensation for
‘unfair’ dismissal. Therefore, while the legal coverage of EPL is the
same for natives and immigrants, the effective coverage may be lower
for immigrants.