Catholics and Protestants in the N. Ireland labour market: Why does one group perform better than the other?

A virtual consensus exists that Catholics fare worse than Protestants in the N. Ireland labour market. The political implications of this imbalance have been extensive since the present bloody conflict has its origins in a civil rights campaign that demanded an end to Catholic economic and social disadvantage. A range of contrasting studies has attempted to explain the causes of unequal performance between Catholics and Protestants in employment. This paper surveys the robustness of these investigations which are categorized under: (1) political explanations; (2) quasi-human capital studies; and (3) econometric and statistical assessments. It is suggested that each category has some merits, but none on its own is convincing. The paper concludes that we should adopt an eclectic approach to explaining the better employment position of Protestants.