IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/osf/socarx/bqjn2_v1.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Labor Market Effects of Restricting Refugees' Employment Opportunities

Author

Listed:
  • Ahrens, Achim
  • Beerli, Andreas Jürg
  • Hangartner, Dominik
  • Kurer, Selina
  • Siegenthaler, Michael

Abstract

This paper investigates whether employment restrictions contribute to refugees having poorer labor market outcomes than citizens. Utilizing linked register data from Switzerland and within-canton policy variation between 1999-2015, we find substantial negative effects on employment and earnings when refugees are barred from working upon arrival, excluded from specific sectors or regions, or face resident prioritization. Removing 10% of refugees' outside options reduces job-to-job mobility by 7.5% and wages by 3.0%, widening the wage gap to citizens in similar jobs. The restrictions depress refugees' labor market outcomes even after they apply, but do not spur emigration nor benefit other immigrants.

Suggested Citation

  • Ahrens, Achim & Beerli, Andreas Jürg & Hangartner, Dominik & Kurer, Selina & Siegenthaler, Michael, 2024. "The Labor Market Effects of Restricting Refugees' Employment Opportunities," SocArXiv bqjn2_v1, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:bqjn2_v1
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/bqjn2_v1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://osf.io/download/659be3de523af90a6f0b4276/
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.31219/osf.io/bqjn2_v1?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. Pierre Cahuc & Fabien Postel-Vinay & Jean-Marc Robin, 2006. "Wage Bargaining with On-the-Job Search: Theory and Evidence," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 74(2), pages 323-364, March.
    2. Marta Lachowska & Alexandre Mas & Raffaele Saggio & Stephen A. Woodbury, 2022. "Wage Posting or Wage Bargaining? A Test Using Dual Jobholders," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 40(S1), pages 469-493.
    3. Sari Pekkala Kerr & William R. Kerr & William F. Lincoln, 2015. "Skilled Immigration and the Employment Structures of US Firms," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(S1), pages 147-186.
    4. Till von Wachter, 2020. "The Persistent Effects of Initial Labor Market Conditions for Young Adults and Their Sources," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(4), pages 168-194, Fall.
    5. Anna Piil Damm, 2009. "Ethnic Enclaves and Immigrant Labor Market Outcomes: Quasi-Experimental Evidence," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(2), pages 281-314, April.
    6. Azlor, Luz & Damm, Anna Piil & Schultz-Nielsen, Marie Louise, 2020. "Local labour demand and immigrant employment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    7. David Card & Ana Rute Cardoso & Joerg Heining & Patrick Kline, 2018. "Firms and Labor Market Inequality: Evidence and Some Theory," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(S1), pages 13-70.
    8. Black, Dan A, 1995. "Discrimination in an Equilibrium Search Model," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 13(2), pages 309-333, April.
    9. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/dc0ckec3fcb29ms9850c12h1p is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Olof Åslund & John Östh & Yves Zenou, 2010. "How important is access to jobs? Old question--improved answer," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(3), pages 389-422, May.
    11. Michael A. Clemens & Ethan G. Lewis & Hannah M. Postel, 2018. "Immigration Restrictions as Active Labor Market Policy: Evidence from the Mexican Bracero Exclusion," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(6), pages 1468-1487, June.
    12. Suresh Naidu & Yaw Nyarko & Shing-Yi Wang, 2016. "Monopsony Power in Migrant Labor Markets: Evidence from the United Arab Emirates," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(6), pages 1735-1792.
    13. Philip Oreopoulos & Till von Wachter & Andrew Heisz, 2012. "The Short- and Long-Term Career Effects of Graduating in a Recession," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(1), pages 1-29, January.
    14. Mette Foged & Linea Hasager & Giovanni Peri, 2024. "Comparing the Effects of Policies for the Labor Market Integration of Refugees," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(S1), pages 335-377.
    15. Francesco Fasani & Tommaso Frattini & Luigi Minale, 2021. "Lift the Ban? Initial Employment Restrictions and Refugee Labour Market Outcomes," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 19(5), pages 2803-2854.
    16. Müller, Tobias & Pannatier, Pia & Viarengo, Martina, 2023. "Labor market integration, local conditions and inequalities: Evidence from refugees in Switzerland," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    17. Courtney Brell & Christian Dustmann & Ian Preston, 2020. "The Labor Market Integration of Refugee Migrants in High-Income Countries," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(1), pages 94-121, Winter.
    18. Anna Sokolova & Todd Sorensen, 2021. "Monopsony in Labor Markets: A Meta-Analysis," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(1), pages 27-55, January.
    19. Sun, Liyang & Abraham, Sarah, 2021. "Estimating dynamic treatment effects in event studies with heterogeneous treatment effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 175-199.
    20. Olof Åslund & Dan-Olof Rooth, 2007. "Do when and where matter? initial labour market conditions and immigrant earnings," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(518), pages 422-448, March.
    21. Hugh Cassidy & Tennecia Dacass, 2021. "Occupational Licensing and Immigrants," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(1), pages 1-28.
    22. Briggs Depew & Peter Norlander & Todd A. Sørensen, 2017. "Inter-firm mobility and return migration patterns of skilled guest workers," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 30(2), pages 681-721, April.
    23. Pierre Cahuc & Fabien Postel-Vinay & Jean-Marc Robin, 2006. "Wage bargaining with on-the-job search: theory and evidence," SciencePo Working papers hal-03471856, HAL.
    24. LoPalo, Melissa, 2019. "The effects of cash assistance on refugee outcomes," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 27-52.
    25. Orley C. Ashenfelter & Henry Farber & Michael R Ransom, 2010. "Labor Market Monopsony," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 28(2), pages 203-210, April.
    26. Paul Beaudry & David A. Green & Benjamin Sand, 2012. "Does Industrial Composition Matter for Wages? A Test of Search and Bargaining Theory," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 80(3), pages 1063-1104, May.
    27. Xuening Wang, 2021. "US Permanent Residency, Job Mobility, and Earnings," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(3), pages 639-671.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Ahrens, Achim & Beerli, Andreas & Hangartner, Dominik & Kurer, Selina & Siegenthaler, Michael, 2023. "The Labor Market Effects of Restricting Refugees' Employment Opportunities," IZA Discussion Papers 15901, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. 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.
    3. Aksoy, Cevat Giray & Poutvaara, Panu & Schikora, Felicitas, 2023. "First time around: Local conditions and multi-dimensional integration of refugees," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    4. Francesco Fasani & Tommaso Frattini & Luigi Minale, 2021. "Lift the Ban? Initial Employment Restrictions and Refugee Labour Market Outcomes," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 19(5), pages 2803-2854.
    5. Dami'an Vergara, 2022. "Minimum Wages and Optimal Redistribution," Papers 2202.00839, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2022.
    6. Foged, Mette & van der Werf, Cynthia, 2023. "Access to language training and the local integration of refugees," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    7. Lu, Yi & Sugita, Yoichi & 杉田, 洋一 & Zhu, Lianming, 2019. "Wage and Markdowns and FDI Liberalization," Discussion paper series HIAS-E-83, Hitotsubashi Institute for Advanced Study, Hitotsubashi University.
    8. Dahlberg, Matz & Egebark, Johan & Vikman, Ulrika & Özcan, Gülay, 2024. "Labor market integration of refugees: RCT evidence from an early intervention program in Sweden," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 217(C), pages 614-630.
    9. Cole, Matthew A. & Jabbour, Liza & Ozgen, Ceren & Yumoto, Hiromi, 2024. "Refugees' Economic Integration and Firms," IZA Discussion Papers 16828, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Biro, Aniko & Bisztray, Márta & da Fonseca, João G. & Molnár, Tímea Laura, 2023. "Accident-Induced Absence from Work and Wage Ladders," IZA Discussion Papers 16312, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Gabriele Lucchetti & Alessandro Ruggieri, 2023. "Unlucky migrants: Scarring effect of recessions on the assimilation of the foreign born," Discussion Papers 2023-09, University of Nottingham, GEP.
    12. Müller, Tobias & Pannatier, Pia & Viarengo, Martina, 2023. "Labor market integration, local conditions and inequalities: Evidence from refugees in Switzerland," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    13. Demir, Gökay, 2024. "Labor Market Frictions and Spillover Effects from Publicly Announced Sectoral Minimum Wages," IZA Discussion Papers 17510, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Alícia Adserà & Synøve Andersen & Marianne Tønnessen, 2022. "Does One Municipality Fit All?The Employment of Refugees in Norway Across Municipalities of Different Centrality and Size," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(3), pages 547-575, August.
    15. Danzer, Alexander M. & Feuerbaum, Carsten & Gaessler, Fabian, 2024. "Labor supply and automation innovation: Evidence from an allocation policy," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    16. Michael Amior & Alan Manning, 2020. "Monopsony and the wage effects of migration," CEP Discussion Papers dp1690, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    17. 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).
    18. Magnus Lodefalk & Fredrik Sjöholm & Aili Tang, 2022. "International trade and labour market integration of immigrants," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(6), pages 1650-1689, June.
    19. Pérez, Jorge & Vial, Felipe & Zárate, Román, 2022. "Urban Transit Infrastructure: Spatial Mismatch and Labor Market Power," Research Department working papers 1992, CAF Development Bank Of Latinamerica.
    20. David Card & Ana Rute Cardoso & Joerg Heining & Patrick Kline, 2018. "Firms and Labor Market Inequality: Evidence and Some Theory," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(S1), pages 13-70.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:osf:socarx:bqjn2_v1. 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: OSF (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://arabixiv.org .

    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.