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Self-selection of Asylum Seekers: Evidence From Germany

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  • Lucas Guichard

    (Institute for Employment Research
    CERDI, CNRS, Université Clermont Auvergne)

Abstract

I examine the pattern of selection on education of asylum seekers recently arrived in Germany from five key source countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Iraq, Serbia, and Syria. The analysis relies on original individual-level data collected in Germany combined with surveys conducted at origin. The results reveal a positive pattern of selection on education for asylum seekers who were able to flee Iraq and Syria, and the selection is neutral for individuals seeking asylum from Afghanistan and negative for asylum seekers from Albania and Serbia. I provide an interpretation of these patterns based on differences in the expected length of stay at destination, the migration costs faced by asylum seekers to reach Germany, and the size of migration networks at destination.

Suggested Citation

  • Lucas Guichard, 2020. "Self-selection of Asylum Seekers: Evidence From Germany," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(3), pages 1089-1116, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:57:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s13524-020-00873-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-020-00873-9
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    Cited by:

    1. Ludovica Gambaro & Guido Neidhöfer & C. Katharina Spieß, 2019. "The Effect of Early Childhood Education and Care Services on the Social Integration of Refugee Families," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1828, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    2. Jacobsen, Jannes & Krieger, Magdalena & Schikora, Felicitas & Schupp, Jürgen, 2021. "Growing Potentials for Migration Research using the German Socio-Economic Panel Study," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 241(4), pages 527-549.
    3. repec:iab:iabjlr:v:55:i::p:art.8 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Michael Hebsaker & Guido Neidhöfer & Friedhelm Pfeiffer, 2021. "Intergenerational mobility and self-selection on unobserved skills: New evidence," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 55(1), pages 1-9, December.
    5. Schröder, Carsten & König, Johannes & Fedorets, Alexandra & Goebel, Jan & Grabka, Markus M. & Lüthen, Holger & Metzing, Maria & Schikora, Felicitas & Liebig, Stefan, 2020. "The economic research potentials of the German Socio-Economic Panel study," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 21(3), pages 335-371.
    6. Ellen Heidinger, 2023. "Overcoming Barriers to Service Access: Refugees’ Professional Support Service Utilization and the Impact of Human and Social Capital," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 271-312, March.
    7. Aksoy, Cevat Giray & Poutvaara, Panu, 2021. "Refugees' and irregular migrants’ self-selection into Europe," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    8. Freitas-Monteiro, Teresa & Ludolph, Lars, 2021. "Barriers to humanitarian migration, victimisation and integration outcomes: evidence from Germany," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 110500, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Brücker, Herbert & Kosyakova, Yuliya & Schuß, Eric, 2020. "Fünf Jahre seit der Fluchtmigration 2015: Integration in Arbeitsmarkt und Bildungssystem macht weitere Fortschritte (Five years since refugee migration 2015 : progress in integration into the labor ma," IAB-Kurzbericht 202004, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    10. Brücker, Herbert & Deuster, Christoph & Fendel, Tanja & Jaschke, Philipp & Keita, Sekou & Freitas Monteiro, Teresa, 2021. "Nach der Machtübernahme der Taliban in Afghanistan: Erfahrungen aus der Vergangenheit und erste Einschätzungen der Folgen für Migration und Integration," IAB-Forschungsbericht 202109, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    11. Ellen Heidinger, 2021. "Overcoming Barriers to Service Access: Refugees’ Professional Support Service Utilization and the Impact of Human and Social Capital," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1151, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    12. Gambaro, Ludovica & Neidhöfer, Guido & Spiess, C. Katharina, 2021. "The effect of early childhood education and care services on the integration of refugee families," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    13. Seonho Shin, 2022. "To work or not? Wages or subsidies?: Copula-based evidence of subsidized refugees’ negative selection into employment," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(4), pages 2209-2252, October.
    14. Michael Hebsaker & Guido Neidhöfer & Friedhelm Pfeiffer, 2021. "Intergenerational mobility and self-selection on unobserved skills: New evidence," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 55(1), pages 1-9, December.
    15. Brücker, Herbert & Fendel, Tanja & Guichard, Lucas & Gundacker, Lidwina & Jaschke, Philipp & Keita, Sekou & Kosyakova, Yuliya & Vallizadeh, Ehsan, 2020. "Fünf Jahre "Wir schaffen das" - Eine Bilanz aus der Perspektive des Arbeitsmarktes," IAB-Forschungsbericht 202011, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].

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