Asylum Seeker and Refugee Integration in Europe

Stanford University, Stanford CA

Investigators

Abstract

General Summary This research seeks to establish which policies are best suited to promote the social and economic integration of refugees. Despite the importance of this question, extant research fails to inform policy, as it tends to rely on highly aggregated national models that differentiate countries based on whether they espouse assimilationist or multicultural policies. The PIs of this study focus on localities in three countries - Germany, France, and Switzerland - and for each, evaluate the effects of specific policies on integration success. In particular, they focus on four key elements of policy: 1) bureaucratic protocols that affect the length of time it takes for asylum claims to be processed, 2) the geographic allocation of refugees 3) policies that structure refugees' access to public benefits and the labor market, and 4) the returns to government investments in state-run courses in citizenship, and whether these are consequential for immigrant success in the host country. The study leverages identification strategies to identify causally the impact of various policies on subsequent integration outcomes, which is a crucial concern for all European and North American countries. Technical Summary This systematic evaluation of the impact of refugee integration policies provides important contributions to existing immigration research by (1) applying advanced econometric and experimental methods to a new policy area in order to produce internally-valid evidence; and 2) advancing understanding of integration outcomes beyond economic success by directly measuring political and social outcomes for highly vulnerable populations. Methodologically, the PIs leverage detailed data on refugee outcomes provided by administrative and survey data to focus on identifying the effect of four factors: (i) policy measures that affect the length of time it takes for asylum claims to be processed; (ii) geographic allocation of refugees; (iii) policies that structure refugees' access to governmental benefits and the labor market; and (iv) regulations that govern integration course requirements (such as language, civic, or job market training).