IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/treure/v25y2019i1p25-42.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Refugee integration policy the Norwegian way – why good ideas fail and bad ideas prevail

Author

Listed:
  • Anne Britt Djuve

    (Fafo Institute for Labour and Social Research, Oslo, Norway)

  • Hanne Cecilie Kavli

    (Fafo Institute for Labour and Social Research, Oslo, Norway)

Abstract

Integrating non-Western refugees into the highly specialised Scandinavian labour markets has proven difficult. This highly ideological policy field is an interesting case for the study of policy learning versus ideas as drivers for institutional change or continuity. Using the Norwegian Introductory Programme as a case study, we show that the application of core programme measures remains largely unaffected by evaluations that show that such measures tend to have very modest effects on the labour market integration of refugees. Concurrently, incremental changes in the disciplining elements of the programme have resulted in an increasingly controlling activation regime. Our interpretation is that a major driver behind the intensification of disciplinary elements has been the assumption that participants lack the motivation to integrate into the labour market. Moreover, we find that this assumption presents an obstacle to policy learning with regard to programme quality. Within activation, policy ideas seem to function simultaneously as path-reinforcing cognitive locks and as drivers for political change.

Suggested Citation

  • Anne Britt Djuve & Hanne Cecilie Kavli, 2019. "Refugee integration policy the Norwegian way – why good ideas fail and bad ideas prevail," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 25(1), pages 25-42, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:treure:v:25:y:2019:i:1:p:25-42
    DOI: 10.1177/1024258918807135
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1024258918807135
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/1024258918807135?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rosholm, Michael & Vejlin, Rune, 2010. "Reducing income transfers to refugee immigrants: Does start-help help you start?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 258-275, January.
    2. Huber, Martin & Lechner, Michael & Wunsch, Conny & Walter, Thomas, 2009. "Do German Welfare-to-Work Programmes Reduce Welfare and Increase Work?," IZA Discussion Papers 4090, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Pieter Bevelander, 2020. "Integrating refugees into labor markets," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 269-269, September.
    4. Borjas, George J, 1995. "Assimilation and Changes in Cohort Quality Revisited: What Happened to Immigrant Earnings in the 1980s?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 13(2), pages 201-245, April.
    5. Chiswick, Barry R. & Miller, Paul W., 2014. "International Migration and the Economics of Language," IZA Discussion Papers 7880, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Sarah Bernhard & Thomas Kruppe, 2012. "Effectiveness of Further Vocational Training in Germany – Empirical Findings for Persons Receiving Means-tested Unemployment Benefits," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 132(4), pages 501-526.
    7. Qureshi, Atef, 2013. "The Effect of Punitive Sanctions on the Transition Rate from Welfare to Work: Evidence from Denmark," Nationaløkonomisk tidsskrift, Nationaløkonomisk Forening, vol. 2013(2), pages 225-246.
    8. Pernilla Andersson Joona & Lena Nekby, 2012. "Intensive Coaching of New Immigrants: An Evaluation Based on Random Program Assignment," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 114(2), pages 575-600, June.
    9. Sebastian Butschek & Thomas Walter, 2014. "What active labour market programmes work for immigrants in Europe? A meta-analysis of the evaluation literature," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-18, December.
    10. Eskil Heinesen & Leif Husted & Michael Rosholm, 2013. "The effects of active labour market policies for immigrants receiving social assistance in Denmark," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 2(1), pages 1-22, December.
    11. Clausen, Jens & Heinesen, Eskil & Hummelgaard, Hans & Husted, Leif & Rosholm, Michael, 2009. "The effect of integration policies on the time until regular employment of newly arrived immigrants: Evidence from Denmark," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 409-417, August.
    12. Ulf Rinne, 2013. "The evaluation of immigration policies," Chapters, in: Amelie F. Constant & Klaus F. Zimmermann (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Migration, chapter 28, pages 530-552, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Duncan McVicar & Mark Wooden & Felix Leung & Ning Li, 2016. "Work-Related Training and the Probability of Transitioning from Non-Permanent to Permanent Employment," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 54(3), pages 623-646, September.
    14. Olof Ã…slund & Per Johansson, 2011. "Virtues of SIN," Evaluation Review, , vol. 35(4), pages 399-427, August.
    15. Barry R. Chiswick & Yew Liang Lee & Paul W. Miller, 2005. "Immigrant Earnings: A Longitudinal Analysis," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 51(4), pages 485-503, December.
    16. Pierson, Paul, 2000. "Increasing Returns, Path Dependence, and the Study of Politics," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 94(2), pages 251-267, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Marianne Takvam Kindt & Mathilde Bjørnset, 2023. "What Employers Mean When They Talk About Language Proficiency: a Civic Integration Policy Meets the Importance of Informal Skills," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 1499-1521, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jacob Nielsen Arendt, 2022. "Labor market effects of a work-first policy for refugees," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(1), pages 169-196, January.
    2. Sebastian Butschek & Thomas Walter, 2014. "What active labour market programmes work for immigrants in Europe? A meta-analysis of the evaluation literature," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-18, December.
    3. Bonin, Holger & Rinne, Ulf, 2017. "Machbarkeitsstudie zur Durchführung einer Evaluation der arbeitsmarktpolitischen Integrationsmaßnahmen für Flüchtlinge," IZA Research Reports 76, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Walter, Thomas & Butschek, Sebastian, 2013. "What Active Labour Market Programmes Work for Immigrants in Europe?," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 79745, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    5. Jacob Nielsen Arendt & Christian Dustmann & Hyejin Ku, 2022. "Refugee migration and the labour market: lessons from 40 years of post-arrival policies in Denmark," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 38(3), pages 531-556.
    6. Battisti, Michele & Giesing, Yvonne & Laurentsyeva, Nadzeya, 2019. "Can job search assistance improve the labour market integration of refugees? Evidence from a field experiment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    7. Seonho Shin, 2022. "Evaluating the Effect of the Matching Grant Program for Refugees: An Observational Study Using Matching, Weighting, and the Mantel-Haenszel Test," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 103-133, March.
    8. Dries Lens & Ive Marx & Sunčica Vujić, 2017. "Integrating (former) asylum seekers into the Belgian labour market. What can we learn from the recent past?," Working Papers 1710, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    9. Frederik Thuesen & Vibeke Jakobsen & Nina T. Dalgaard & Bjørn C. A. Viinholt, 2020. "PROTOCOL: Interventions to improve the economic self‐sufficiency of unemployed immigrants from non‐Western countries," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(4), December.
    10. Dahlberg, Matz & Egebark, Johan & Vikman, Ullrika & Özcan, Gülay, 2020. "Labor Market Integration of Low-Educated Refugees: RCT Evidence from an Ambitious Integration Program in Sweden," Working Paper Series 1372, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    11. Stephan Thomsen & Thomas Walter & Alisher Aldashev, 2013. "Short-term training programs for immigrants in the German welfare system: do effects differ from natives and why?," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 2(1), pages 1-20, December.
    12. Arendt, Jacob Nielsen & Bolvig, Iben, 2023. "Trade-offs between work-first and language-first strategies for refugees," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    13. Dahlberg, Matz & Egebark, Johan & Vikman, Ulrika & Özcan, Gülay, 2020. "Labor market integration of low-educated refugees," Working Paper Series 2020:21, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    14. Jacob Nielsen Arendt & Iben Bolvig & Mette Foged & Linea Hasager & Giovanni Peri, 2020. "Language Training and Refugees' Integration," NBER Working Papers 26834, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. David McKenzie & Dean Yang, 2015. "Evidence on Policies to Increase the Development Impacts of International Migration," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 30(2), pages 155-192.
    16. Aldashev, Alisher & Thomsen, Stephan L. & Walter, Thomas, 2010. "Short-term training programs for immigrants: do effects differ from natives and why?," ZEW Discussion Papers 10-021, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    17. Fasani, Francesco & Frattini, Tommaso & Pirot, Maxime, 2023. "From Refugees to Citizens: Labor Market Returns to Naturalization," CEPR Discussion Papers 18675, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    18. Matti Sarvimäki & Kari Hämäläinen, 2016. "Integrating Immigrants: The Impact of Restructuring Active Labor Market Programs," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(2), pages 479-508.
    19. Åslund, Olof & Forslund, Anders & Liljeberg, Linus, 2017. "Labour market entry of non-Labour migrants – Swedish evidence," Working Paper Series 2017:15, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    20. Peter Huber & Gerhard Streicher & Georg Böhs, 2018. "Evaluierung des Paktes für Arbeit und Qualifizierung für Oberösterreich," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 66774, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:treure:v:25:y:2019:i:1:p:25-42. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.