Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP14296
Authors: Courtney Brell; Christian Dustmann; Ian Preston
Abstract: We provide an overview of the integration of refugees into the labor markets of a number ofhigh-income countries. Discussing the ways in which refugees and economic migrants aredifferently selected and so might be expected to perform differently in a host country’s labormarket, we examine employment and wages for these groups over time after arrival. There issignificant heterogeneity between host countries, but in general refugees experiencepersistently worse outcomes than other migrants. While the gaps between the groups can beseen to decrease on a timescale of a decade or two, this is more pronounced in employmentrates than it is in wages. We also discuss how refugees are distinct in terms of other factorsaffecting integration, including health, language skills and social networks. We provide adiscussion of insights for public policy in receiving countries, concluding that supportingrefugees in early labor market attachment is crucial.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: No JEL codes provided
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| time in the host country (F29) | labor market integration of refugees (J68) |
| language skills (G53) | labor market integration of refugees (J68) |
| mental health issues (I12) | labor market integration of refugees (J68) |
| social networks (Z13) | labor market integration of refugees (J68) |
| initial disadvantage (employment rates) (J79) | labor market integration of refugees (J68) |
| initial disadvantage (wages) (J31) | labor market integration of refugees (J68) |