%0 Report
        %A Pineda-Hernández, Kevin
%A Rycx, François
%A Senterre, Thomas
%A Volral, Mélanie
        %T Immigrant-Native Wage Gaps over Two Generations: Does the Field of Study Matter?
        %D 2026
        %8 2026 Jun
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 18728
        %U https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp18728
        %X Although educational attainment is known to moderate immigrant-native wage gaps, the role of the field of study remains largely unexplored. Drawing on detailed data for master's graduates in Belgium (1999-2016), we show that the immigrant-native wage gap narrows over two generations but persists in higher-paying fields (STEM, LEM), while disappearing in lower-paying ones. Wage decompositions reveal a small positive quantity effect (immigrants favour higher-paying fields), outweighed by a negative price effect (as returns to fields are lower for immigrants). This price effect halves across generations. Together, both effects explain 28-37% of the overall pay gap. Sensitivity tests refine these findings.
        %K immigrant-native wage gap
%K first- and second-generation immigrants
%K field of study
%K matched employer-employee data