Refugees: Labor Market Integration and Impact on Natives

In 2015, the Federal Office for Migrants and Refugees (BAMF) recorded the arrival of 890,000 refugees to Germany. Another 290,000 came in 2016. This project aims to explore the impact of this refugee inflow in two parts. First, we will explore how refugees fare by investigating the role of ethnic enclaves in refugees’ human capital. Second, we will explore the impact of this refugee inflow on labor market outcomes of natives. In addition to collecting primary data on refugee inflows, we will rely on two secondary data sources: (i) the “IAB-BAMF-SOEP refugee sample” which is the sole representative and comprehensive data set of the recent refugee inflow to Germany and (ii)  monthly administrative data from the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit) on nationals from the main countries of origin of refugees and a novel dataset created from the files on unemployed, job-seeking and benefit-recipient refugees registered by the Federal Employment Agency.

Prof. Dr. Herbert Brücker (IAB)
Prof. Rajshri Jayaraman, PhD (ESMT Berlin)
Prof. Dr. Alexandra Spitz-Oener (Humboldt University Berlin)

Dr. Alfred Garloff (IAB)
Marrit Teirlinck, PhD (Harvard Kennedy School EPoD)