IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/glodps/662.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Labor Market Effects of a Work-first Policy for Refugees

Author

Listed:
  • Arendt, Jacob Nielsen

Abstract

This study estimates the labor market effects of a work-first policy that aimed at speeding up the labor market integration of refugees. The policy added new requirements for refugees to actively search for jobs and to participate in on-the-job training immediately upon arrival in the host country. The requirements were added to an existing policy that emphasizes human capital investments in language training. The results show that the work-first policy speeded up the entry into regular jobs for males, but that they find work in precarious jobs with few hours. The long-run effects are uncertain since the policy crowds out language investments but raises enrollment in education. The policy had no or very small effects for women, which is partly explained by a lower treatment intensity for women.

Suggested Citation

  • Arendt, Jacob Nielsen, 2020. "Labor Market Effects of a Work-first Policy for Refugees," GLO Discussion Paper Series 662, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:662
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/224146/1/GLO-DP-0662.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of 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. V. Joseph Hotz & Guido W. Imbens & Jacob A. Klerman, 2006. "Evaluating the Differential Effects of Alternative Welfare-to-Work Training Components: A Reanalysis of the California GAIN Program," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(3), pages 521-566, July.
    3. Andersson Joona, Pernilla & Lanninger, Alma W. & Sundström, Marianne, 2016. "Reforming the Integration of Refugees: The Swedish Experience," IZA Discussion Papers 10307, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Bratsberg, Bernt & Raaum, Oddbjørn & Røed, Knut, 2017. "Immigrant Labor Market Integration across Admission Classes," IZA Discussion Papers 10513, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Lochmann, Alexia & Rapoport, Hillel & Speciale, Biagio, 2019. "The effect of language training on immigrants’ economic integration: Empirical evidence from France," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 265-296.
    6. 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.
    7. David Card & Jochen Kluve & Andrea Weber, 2018. "What Works? A Meta Analysis of Recent Active Labor Market Program Evaluations," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 894-931.
    8. Christian Dustmann & Francesco Fasani & Tommaso Frattini & Luigi Minale & Uta Schönberg, 2017. "On the economics and politics of refugee migration," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 32(91), pages 497-550.
    9. Camilla Hvidtfeldt & Marie Louise Schultz-Nielsen & Erdal Tekin & Mogens Fosgerau, 2018. "An estimate of the effect of waiting time in the Danish asylum system on post-resettlement employment among refugees: Separating the pure delay effect from the effects of the conditions under which re," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(11), pages 1-14, November.
    10. Pieter Bevelander, 2020. "Integrating refugees into labor markets," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 269-269, September.
    11. Per-Anders Edin & Peter Fredriksson & Olof Åslund, 2003. "Ethnic Enclaves and the Economic Success of Immigrants—Evidence from a Natural Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 329-357.
    12. Chiswick, Barry R. & Miller, Paul W., 2014. "International Migration and the Economics of Language," IZA Discussion Papers 7880, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. 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.
    14. Ansala, Laura & Åslund, Olof & Sarvim¨aki, Matti, 2018. "Immigration history, entry jobs, and the labor market integration of immigrants," Working Paper Series 2018:20, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    15. Alexander M. Danzer, 2012. "Economic Benefits of Facilitating the Integration of Immigrants," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 9(04), pages 14-19, February.
    16. Marbach, Moritz & Hainmueller, Jens & Hangartner, Dominik, 2017. "The Long-Term Impact of Employment Bans on the Economic Integration of Refugees," Research Papers repec:ecl:stabus:3618, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    17. LoPalo, Melissa, 2019. "The effects of cash assistance on refugee outcomes," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 27-52.
    18. Thomas Liebig & Kristian Rose Tronstad, 2018. "Triple Disadvantage?: A first overview of the integration of refugee women," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 216, OECD Publishing.
    19. Max Nielsen & Jos Smit & Jordi Guillen, 2009. "Market Integration of Fish in Europe," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(2), pages 367-385, June.
    20. 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.
    21. 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.
    22. John Hayfron, 2001. "Language training, language proficiency and earnings of immigrants in Norway," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(15), pages 1971-1979.
    23. 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.
    24. Knut Røed & Oddbjørn Raaum, 2006. "Do Labour Market Programmes Speed up the Return to Work?," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 68(5), pages 541-568, October.
    25. Nadzeya Laurentsyeva & Alessandra Venturini, 2017. "The Social Integration of Immigrants and the Role of Policy — A Literature Review," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 52(5), pages 285-292, September.
    26. Lars Højsgaard Andersen & Christian Dustmann & Rasmus Landersø, 2019. "Lowering Welfare Benefits: Intended and Unintended Consequences for Migrants and their Families," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 1905, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    27. Olof Ã…slund & Per Johansson, 2011. "Virtues of SIN," Evaluation Review, , vol. 35(4), pages 399-427, August.
    28. 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.
    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. Foged, Mette & van der Werf, Cynthia, 2023. "Access to language training and the local integration of refugees," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. Bratu, Cristina & Martén, Linna & Ottosson, Lillit, 2023. "Individualized Benefits and Access to Active Labor Market Programs Boost Refugee Women’s Economic Integration," Working Paper Series 3/2023, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research, revised 07 Aug 2024.
    5. Ferwerda, Jeremy & Finseraas, Henning, 2022. "Do Integration Courses Promote Refugees’ Social and Political Integration? Evidence from Norway," OSF Preprints 87w6e, Center for Open Science.
    6. Stefan Jestl & Michael Landesmann & Sebastian Leitner & Barbara Wanek-Zajic, 2022. "Trajectories of Employment Gaps of Refugees and Other Migrants: Evidence from Austria," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(2), pages 609-669, April.
    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. 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).
    9. 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.
    10. Henna Busk & Signe Jauhiainen, 2022. "The Careers of Immigrants in Finland: Empirical Evidence for Genders and Year of Immigration," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 2009-2030, December.
    11. Cole, Matthew A. & Jabbour, Liza & Ozgen, Ceren & Yumoto, Hiromi, 2024. "Refugees' Economic Integration and Firms," IZA Discussion Papers 16828, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Dorian Tsolak & Marvin Bürmann, 2023. "Making the Match: The Importance of Local Labor Markets for the Employment Prospects of Refugees," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-26, June.
    13. Paweł Walawender & Damian Liszka & Elżbieta Szczygieł, 2023. "“What I Want versus What I Will Agree to”—An Analysis of the Views of Ukrainian Refugees toward Work," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-22, December.
    14. Stefan Jestl & Maryna Tverdostup, 2023. "The Labour Market Entry and Integration of Refugees and Other Migrants in Austria," wiiw Working Papers 231, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    15. Black, Sandra E. & Liepmann, Hannah & Remigereau, Camille & Spitz-Oener, Alexandra, 2022. "Government aid and child refugees’ economic success later in life: Evidence from post-WWII GDR refugees," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).

    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 & 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Francesco Fasani & Tommaso Frattini & Maxime Pirot, 2023. "From Refugees to Citizens: Labor Market Returns to Naturalization," Development Working Papers 489, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano, revised 11 Jun 2024.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    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. 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).
    8. Matilda Kilström & Birthe Larsen & Elisabet Olme, 2023. "Temporary refugee protection and labor-market outcomes," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 65(4), pages 1895-1929, October.
    9. 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.
    10. Bonin, Holger & Rinne, Ulf, 2017. "Machbarkeitsstudie zur Durchführung einer Evaluation der arbeitsmarktpolitischen Integrationsmaßnahmen für Flüchtlinge," IZA Research Reports 76, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. 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.
    12. Francesco Fasani & Tommaso Frattini & Luigi Minale, 2017. "The (Struggle for) Labour Market Integration of Refugees: Evidence from European Countries," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 1716, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    13. Demirci, Murat & Kırdar, Murat Güray, 2023. "The labor market integration of Syrian refugees in Turkey," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    14. Francesco Fasani & Tommaso Frattini & Luigi Minale, 2022. "(The Struggle for) Refugee integration into the labour market: evidence from Europe [Cashier or consultant? Entry labor market conditions, field of study, and career success]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 22(2), pages 351-393.
    15. 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.
    16. 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.
    17. 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.
    18. Stefan Jestl & Michael Landesmann & Sebastian Leitner & Barbara Wanek-Zajic, 2022. "Trajectories of Employment Gaps of Refugees and Other Migrants: Evidence from Austria," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(2), pages 609-669, April.
    19. 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).
    20. Hangartner, Dominik & Sarvimäki, Matti & Spirig, Judith, 2021. "Managing Refugee Protection Crises: Policy Lessons from Economics and Political Science," IZA Discussion Papers 14821, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Refugee; Unemployment; Work-first; Employment Support;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J68 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Public Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:zbw:glodps:662. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/glabode.html .

    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.