Research
Publications
López Blanco, J.D. (2025) Return to the South: Economic (Re)integration of Return Migrants, Internal Migrants, and Non-Migrants in Post-Recession Spain of the 2010s
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This study investigates the labor market reintegration of intra-EU return migrants in Spain, comparing them with internal migrants and non-migrants. Using data from two nationally representative surveys of university graduates and vocational trainees, we analyze employability, earnings, and occupational status. Contrary to expectations, return migrants face employment disadvantages relative to non-migrants and internal migrants. However, they benefit from earnings premiums, particularly among those with extended migration experiences or who relocate upon their return. Occupational status outcomes are mixed: while return migrants initially demonstrate advantages, these diminish after accounting for selection bias. Proficiency in English positively correlates with higher earnings across all groups, particularly for return migrants, yet paradoxically aligns with lower occupational specificity. Job-specific experience acquired abroad proves essential for return migrants, helping mitigate disadvantages in occupational status. These findings enhance our understanding of the intricate dynamics of skill transferability and labor market outcomes within the EU, underscoring the importance of migration and return contexts in shaping returnees' reintegration experiences. - >European Societies, Pre-print available: https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/c6pqk/ .
López Blanco (2025), J.D. Do languages open doors? A theoretical model of linguistic capital and (im)mobility and its application in Spanish youth migration
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Language skills have demonstrated their significance in migration decisions; however, their role as a potential cause of immobility has been largely overlooked. In this paper, I first propose a theoretical model that seeks to explain decisions regarding mobility and immobility based on the instrumental returns generated by an individual’s linguistic capital within a given opportunity structure. Secondly, I apply this model utilizing data from university and vocational training graduates in Spain. Leveraging its particularity as a case study, which encompasses five regions where a minority’s co-official language is an integral part of ethnic identification and shares a similar institutional environment that encourages its use, I find that bilingualism is primarily linked to internal immobility. Simultaneously, it affects the direction of internal migration, since bilinguals are more inclined to relocate to areas with similar language conditions. Bilingualism also presents indirect effects. The results indicate that bilingualism influences international migration by facilitating the acquisition of a foreign language, which becomes increasingly attainable as the cost of language acquisition decreases, though the effect remains relatively small. - Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 51(3), 565-582 DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2024.2359676 .
Working papers
López Blanco, J.D. Internal and International Migration in “Schengenland”. Selectivity of the young Spanish migration
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The study of the links between internal and international migration has traditionally been neglected in migration research. This gap is even more striking in the case of the countries of the European Union, as the policy of free movement and the creation of a common labour market have placed intra-European mobility in a liminal state: neither an unlimited space of free movement nor a classic example of cross-border restrictions. This paper addresses the question of whether - and how - intra-European migration differs from internal migration in terms of migration selectivity. It does so by using comparable micro-level survey data from a representative sample of Spanish graduates and vocational trainees. The results show that internal and intra-European migration are positively selected with respect to education and that the strength of the selection mechanism is similar for them, especially compared to non-European international migration, where positive selection is stronger. They also show that the nature of each resource influences migration decisions, as its transferability or location-specific utility determines which migration path is chosen. Finally, the results also highlight the important role of regional inequality in determining selectivity among migration projects. - Pre-print available: https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/btxqn/ .
López Blanco, J.D. Beyond National Borders and Regional Boundaries: Labor Market Integration Patterns in Spanish Internal and International Migration
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This study analyses labour market integration among internal and international migrants from Spain, challenging the traditional division in migration studies. It focuses on how the selection and mediation mechanisms of migrants influence their labour market outcomes and the role of primary migration motivations in the assimilation process over time. Results show similar selection mechanisms for both migrant groups, with international migrants achieving better labour market integration. For international migrants, occupational status relates more to their field of study, whereas for internal migrants, most of their “migrant return” comes from achieving better labour market conditions. Economic migrants fare better in labour integration, but those migrating without a job often end up in lower-status jobs, especially for international migrants. Host language skills affects international migrants, with its impact on internal migrants in bilingual regions being ambiguous. The study underlines parallels in the labour market experiences of both migrant types, urging a unified approach to understanding human mobility. - Draft available upon request .
In preparation
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