Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Labour Market Integration of Humanitarian Migrants in OECD Countries: An Overview

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Economic Geography of Cross-Border Migration

Part of the book series: Footprints of Regional Science ((VRS))

Abstract

While humanitarian migration is still the least commonly used channel leading to permanent residence, its increase over the last decades has raised concern about its socioeconomic impact within OECD member countries. Humanitarian migrants are often characterized by a number of factors—such as post-migration stress or the fact that they are not selected based on their human capital or skills needed in receiving labour markets—that puts them in a disadvantaged position when seeking employment in receiving countries. As one of the OECD countries with a long tradition in promoting refugees’ employment integration policies, Sweden is presented in this chapter as a case study of humanitarian migrants’ transition into OECD labour markets. With refugee integration policies and a resettlement system that date back to the late 1970s, Sweden has continued to be a major destination for asylum seekers. Like other receiving countries, refugees in Sweden have lower employment levels than other migrants on arrival. While this gap decreases over time and significant differences are also found among source country groups, the employment gap between refugees and natives persist over time.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. 1.

    Estimates for Fig. 8.6 are based on the 2014 European Labour Force Survey, ad hoc module on the labour market situation of immigrants and their descendants.

  2. 2.

    In OECD publications as well by statistical offices of several OECD countries, employment and unemployment levels on an aggregate level by immigrant group are often provided to indicate to what extend there is a native-immigrant employment/unemployment gap (see for example OECD 2016).

  3. 3.

    Since the measurement of employment, unemployment and earnings still is not entirely standardized among countries it is important that studies describe how the actual indicator is defined (see for example Careja and Bevelander 2018 for a discussion on the pros and cons of administrative statistical information for integration studies in Denmark and Sweden).

  4. 4.

    Direct resettlement accounts for a minor share of the entire refugee flow to host countries. See https://www.unhcr.org/resettlement-data.html for more info on the latest resettlement data.

References

  • Ager, A., & Strang, A. (2008). Understanding integration: A conceptual framework. Journal of Refugee Studies, 21(2), 166–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andersen, L. H., Dustmann, C., & Landersø, R. (2019). Lowering welfare benefits: Intended and unintended consequences for migrants and their families. CReAM Discussion Paper Series, Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), Department of Economics, University College London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Auer, D. (2017). Language roulette: The effect of random placement on refugees’ labour market integration. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 44, 341–362. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183x.2017.1304208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aydemir, A. (2011). Immigrant selection and short-term labor market outcomes by visa category. Journal of Population Economics, 24(2), 451–475.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bakker, L., Dagevos, J., & Engbersen, G. (2013). The importance of resources and security in the socio-economic integration of refugees: a study on the impact of length of stay in asylum accommodation and residence status on socio-economic integration for the four largest refugee groups in the Netherlands. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 15(3), 431–448.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bauer, T. K., Braun, S., & Kvasnicka, M. (2013). The economic integration of forced migrants: Evidence for pots-war Germany. The Economic Journal, 123 (571), 998–1024.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker, G. S. (1992). Human capital and the economy. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 136(1), 85–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bevelander, P. (2000) Immigrant employment integration and structural change in Sweden, 1970–1995. Almqvist & Wiksell International, Sweden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bevelander, P. (2011). The employment integration of resettled refugees, asylum claimants, and family reunion migrants in Sweden. Refugee Survey Quarterly, 30(1), 22–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bevelander, P. (2016). Integrating refugees into labour markets. Bonn: IZA World of Labour series.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bevelander, P., & Emilsson, H. (2016). Case study Sweden: Mapping labour market integration support measures—Sweden. In From refugees to workers, mapping labour-market support measures for asylum seekers and refugees in EU member states, vol. II, literature review and case studies. Bertelsmann Stiftung.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bevelander, P., & Irastorza, N. (2014). Catching up: The labor market outcomes of new immigrants in Sweden. Migration Policy Institute and International Labour Office, Washington, DC and Geneva.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bevelander, P., & Luik, M.-A. (2020). Refugee employment integration heterogeneity in Sweden: Evidence from a cohort analysis. In review.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bevelander, P., & Lundh, C. (2007). Employment integration of refugees, the influence of local factors on refugee job opportunities in Sweden. IZA discussion paper no: 2551.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bevelander, P., & Pendakur, R. (2009). The employment attachment of resettled refugees, refugees and family reunion migrants in Sweden. In P. Bevelander, M. Hagstrom, & S. Ronnqvist (Eds.), Resettled and included? The employment integration of resettled refugees in Sweden, pp. 227–245. Malmo University, Malmo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bevelander, P., & Pendakur, R. (2014). The labor market integration of refugee and family reunion immigrants: a comparison of outcomes in Canada and Sweden. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 40(5), 689–709.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bevelander, P., Mata, F., & Pendakur, R. (2019). Housing policy and employment outcomes for refugees. International Migration, 57(3), 134–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bloch, Alice. (2007). Refugees in the UK Labor Market: The conflict between economic integration and policy-led labor market restriction. Journal of Social Policy, 37(1), 21–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borjas, G. J. (1987). Self-selection and the earnings of immigrants. American Economic Review, 77(4), 531–553.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borjas, G. J. (1994). The economics of immigration. Journal of Economic Literature, 32(4), 1667–1717.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bratsberg, B., Raaum, O., & Røed, K. (2014). Immigrants, labor market performance, and social insurance. Economic Journal, 124(580), 644–683.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bratsberg, B., Raaum, O., & Røed, K. (2017). Immigrant labor market integration across admission classes. Nordic Economic Policy Review, 17–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Braun, S., & Mahmoud, T. O. (2014). The employment effects of immigration: evidence from the mass arrival of German expellees in postwar Germany. The Journal of Economic History, 74(1), 69–108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Card, D. (1990). The impact of the Mariel boatlift on the Miami Labor market. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 43(2), 245–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Card, D. (2001). Immigrant inflows, native outflows, and the local market impacts of higher immigration. Journal of Labor Economics, 19(1), 22–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Careja, R., & Bevelander, P. (2018). Using population registers for migration and integration research: examples from Denmark and Sweden. Comparative Migration Studies, 6, 19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlsson, M., & Rooth, D. (2007). Evidence of ethnic discrimination in the Swedish labour market using experimental data. Labour Economics, 14(4), 716–729.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiquiar, D., & Hanson, G. H. (2005). International migration, self-selection, and the distribution of wages: Evidence from Mexico and the United States. Journal of Political Economy, 113(2), 239–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiswick, B. R. (1978). The effect of americanization on the earnings of Foreign-born men. Journal of Political Economy, 86, 897–921.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiswick, B. R. (2000). Are immigrants favorably self-selected? An economic analysis. In C. Brettell & J. F. Hollifield (Eds.), Migration theory: Talking across disciplines (pp. 61–76). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiswick, B., Liang Lee, Y., & Miller, P. W. (2005). A longitudinal analysis of immigrant occupational mobility: a test of the immigrant assimilation hypothesis. International Migration Review, 39(2), 332–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiswick, B., Liang, Y., & Miller, P. W. (2006). “Immigrants’ language skills and visa category. International Migration Review, 40(2), 419–450.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clausen, J., Heinesen, E., Hummelgaard, H., Husted, L., & Rosholm, M. (2009). The effect of integration policies on the time until regular employment of newly arrived immigrants: Evidence from Denmark. Labour Economics, 16, 409–417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2008.12.006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colic-Peisker, V., & Tilbury, F. (2006). “Employment niches for recent refugees: Segmented labour market in twenty-first century Australia. Journal of Refugee Studies, 19(2), 203–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connor, P. (2010). Explaining the refugee gap: economic outcomes of refugees versus other immigrants. Journal of Refugee Studies, 23(3), 377–397.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cortes, K. (2004). Are refugees different from economic immigrants? Some empirical evidence on the heterogeneity of immigrant groups in the United States. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 86(2).

    Google Scholar 

  • Damm, A. P. (2009). Ethnic enclaves and immigrant labor market outcomes: Quasi-experimental evidence. Journal of Labor Economics, 2(2), 281–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Vroome, T., & van Tubergen, F. (2010). The employment experience of refugees in the Netherlands. International Migration Review, 44(2), 376–403.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dustmann, C., Fasani, F., Frattini, T., Minale, L., & Schönberg, U. (2017). On the economics and politics of refugee migration. Economic Policy, 32(91), 497–550.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edin, P., Fredriksson, P., & Åslund, O. (2003). Ethnic enclaves and the economic success of immigrants: evidence from a natural experiment. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118(1), 329–357.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eurostat. (2014). Labour Force survey ad-hoc module “ Migrants and the Labour Market”.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferrie, J. P., & Hatton, T. J. (2015). Two centuries of international migration. In B. Chiswick & P. Miller (Eds.), Handbook of the economics of international migration (pp. 53–88). Amsterdam and Oxford: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frijters, P. D., Hohnston, W., & Shields, M. A. (2010). Mental health and labour market participation: Evidence from IV panel data models (IZA Discussion paper 4883).

    Google Scholar 

  • Giuntella, O., Nicodemo, C., & Vargas-Silva, C. (2018). The effects of immigration on NHS waiting times. Journal of Health Economics, 58, 123–143.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, S. W., & Wright, M. (2015). Does mandatory integration matter? Effects of civic requirements on immigrant socio-economic and political outcomes. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 41, 1885–1908. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183x.2015.1042434.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haberfeld, Y., Birgier, D. P., Lundh, C., & Elldér, E. (2019). Selectivity and internal migration: A study of Refugees’ dispersal policy in Sweden. Frontiers in Sociology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2019.00066.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hagström, M. (2009). Winners and losers? The outcome of the dispersal policy in Sweden. In P. Bevelander, M. Hagstrom, & S. Ronnqvist, (Eds.), Resettled and included? The employment integration of resettled refugees in Sweden, pp. 159–190. Malmo University, Malmo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hainmueller, J., Hangartner, D., & Lawrence, D. (2016). When lives are put on hold: lengthy asylum processes decrease employment among refugees. Science Advances, 2(1), 1–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hatton, T. J. (2011). Seeking asylum, trends and policies in the OECD. Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hosseini-Kaladjahi, H. (1997). Iranians in Sweden: Economic, cultural and social integration. Stockholm University, Dissertation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Irastorza, N., & Bevelander, P. (2017). The labour-market participation of highly skilled immigrants in Sweden: An overview (MIM Working Papers No. 17:5).

    Google Scholar 

  • Irastorza, N., Qi, H., Emilsson, H., & Bevelander, P. (2019).

    Google Scholar 

  • Luik, M. A., Emilsson, H., & Bevelander, P. (2018). Explaining the male native-immigrant employment gap in Sweden: The role of human capital and migrant categories. Journal of Population Research, 35(4), 363–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marbach, M., Haqinmueller, J., & Hangartner, D. (2018). The long-term impact of employment bans on the economic integration of refugees. Science Advances, 4(9), 1–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neureiter, M. (2018). Evaluating the effects of immigrant integration policies in Western Europe using a difference-in-differences approach. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183x.2018.1505485.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OECD (2016). How are refugees faring on the labour market in Europe? (Working Paper 1/2016). https://doi.org/10.2767/350756.

  • OECD (2018). International Migration Outlook 2018. OECD Publishing, Paris. https://doi.org/10.1787/migr_outlook-2018-en.

  • Portes, A., & Stepick, A. (1994). City on the Edge. The transformation of Miami. University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rashid, S. (2009). Internal migration and income of immigrant families. Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies, 7(2), 180–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rooth, D. (1999). Refugee immigrants in Sweden: educational investments and labor market integration. Ph.D thesis. Department of Economics, Lund University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruiz, I., & Vargas-Silva, C. (2013). The economics of forced migration. The Journal of Development Studies, 49(6).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruiz, I., & Vargas-Silva, C. (2017). Differences in labour market outcomes between natives, refugees and other migrants in the UK. Journal of Economic Geography, 18(4), 855–885.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sarvimäki, M., & Hämäläinen, K. (2011). Assimilating immigrants: The impact of an integration program. Tech. rep., Department of Economics, University College London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schultz-Nielsen, M. L. (2017). Labour market integration of refugees in Denmark. Nordic Economic Policy Review, 55–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNHCR. (2016). United Nations Higher Commission for Refugees. http://popstats.unhcr.org/en/overview.

  • UNHCR. (2019). https://www.unhcr.org/resettlement-data.html.

  • Van Hear, N. (2006). Refugees in diaspora: from durable solutions to transnational relations. Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, 23(1).

    Google Scholar 

  • Wigerfelt Svensson, A. (1997). Hungarian refugees in the Shadow of the Cold War. In B. Fryklund & H.-Å. Persson (Eds.), Encounters with strangers. Lund University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yu, S., Ouellette, E., & Warmington, A. (2007). Refugee integration in Canada: a survey of empirical evidence and existing services. Refuge, 24(2), 17–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zdravkovic, S., Grahn, M., Björngren Cuadra, C. (2016). Self-reported health issues in recently arrived migrants to Sweden. In The European Journal of Public Health;suppl 1 9th European Public Health Conference, (other) 220. Oxford University Press, ISSN 1101-1262.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

A chapter prepared for the “Handbook on the Economic Geography of Cross-Border Migration”.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Malmö Institute for Studies of Migration, Diversity and Welfare, Malmö, Sweden

    Pieter Bevelander & Nahikari Irastorza

Authors
  1. Pieter Bevelander
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nahikari Irastorza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pieter Bevelander .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Jheronimus Academy of Data Science, 'S-Hertogenbosch, Noord-Brabant, The Netherlands

    Karima Kourtit

  2. McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Bruce Newbold

  3. Jheronimus Academy of Data Science, 'S-Hertogenbosch, Noord-Brabant, The Netherlands

    Peter Nijkamp

  4. The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Mark Partridge

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Bevelander, P., Irastorza, N. (2021). The Labour Market Integration of Humanitarian Migrants in OECD Countries: An Overview. In: Kourtit, K., Newbold, B., Nijkamp, P., Partridge, M. (eds) The Economic Geography of Cross-Border Migration. Footprints of Regional Science(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48291-6_8

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation