Relaunching labour-market integration for migrants: What can we learn from successful local experiences?

Labour policy can be considered the most crucial means with which to promote the effective integration of migrants. In this policy field, best practices circulate widely among policymakers, above all at the local level, to devise solutions to facilitate the integration of migrants. However, best practices tend to fail when they are transferred to other countries. In the light of the policy analysis literature on the transfer of best practices, the paper discusses three cases of local practices. It describes the network of actors, and it focuses on the reasons for the success of labour-integration policies for migrants during the implementation phase at the local level. The paper tests the following dimensions: the centrality of the users/migrants; the complexity and density of the networks of actors; and the mechanisms triggered. The hypothesis is that the activation of social mechanisms within an actors’ network can achieve a higher level of migrant integration in countries affected by strong migratory flows, and direct more attention to the needs of end-users and their relationship with stakeholders at the local level. The paper analyses the case studies in order to detect the mechanisms that may positively affect implementation of labour policy. Moreover, it is important to determine whether local actors can play a positive role in increasing the effectiveness of migrants’ integration into the labour market. An empirical analysis of the three cases is needed to identify the main success factors and to highlight the main findings of the empirical research.