Essays on the legal and economic integration of refugees

Yumoto, Hiromi ORCID: 0000-0003-0894-173X (2023). Essays on the legal and economic integration of refugees. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

This thesis consists of three essays on the legal and economic integration of recent refugees in the Netherlands. In Chapter 1, we investigate how assignment location, specifically urban and co-national density, affects citizenship acquisition. Exploiting the quasi-random allocation of refugees within the country, our analysis indicates that refugees in urban areas are more likely to integrate, particularly those with higher education levels. Co-national density is also positively associated with integration, however, its impact diminishes towards the upper end of the sample range. Chapter 2 explores whether the labour market training component (the ONA) enhances refugees’ economic integration. We compare the labour market trajectories of refugees required to take the ONA component with those who were not. We find employment probability to be 6.4-11.0 percentage points higher for those who took the ONA but find insignificant differences in hours worked or hourly wages. Chapter 3 focuses on pay disparities, highlighting the considerable wage gaps between refugees and natives, attributing the gaps to firm effects through firm sorting and pay-setting. We show significant pay differentials, with refugee wages approximately half of those of natives. Our analysis also suggests that firm sorting accounts for 14% of the native-refugee pay gap while the pay-setting effect is essentially zero.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):