Research
Research
Working papers
Refugees' Economic Integration and Firms (with Matt Cole, Liza Jabbour, and Ceren Ozgen)
Revised version submitted to the Journal of Human Resources, IZA Discussion Paper
Abstract: We explore whether a civic integration exam component dedicated to labor market training, namely the ONA - a type of job search assistance program, boosts refugees’ economic outcomes and the quality of firms they work for. Using linked employer-employee (monthly) data from 2014 to 2021 for the Netherlands and Regression Discontinuity design, we find that taking the ONA sped up and deepened the economic integration of refugees for at least 3 years in terms of increased employment probability and higher hourly wages. We further show that taking the ONA results in refugees working for larger, less routine-task intensive, higher wage firms. These results reflect improvements in both match efficiency and match quality. The ONA therefore does more than reduce search frictions: it equips refugees with the knowledge to navigate the labor market effectively and find employment that aligns better with their existing abilities and human capital.
Invisible Immigrants: Urbanisation, Co-National Density and the Legal Integration of Refugee (with Matt Cole, Liza Jabbour, and Ceren Ozgen)
R&R from Regional Science and Urban Economics
Abstract: Benefitting from the quasi-random allocation of refugees and utilising administrative data on the universe of refugees, we analyse the factors that influenced refugees’ decision to legally integrate. We focus on the role played by initial assignment location and use two measures of legal integration: i) whether or not an individual passed the civic integration exam; ii) whether full naturalisation occurred. We find that refugees allocated to urban areas are more likely to integrate. The presence of employed co-nationals in the same assignment location increases this probability further. The positive density effect is robust to controlling for public attitudes and amenities, and endogeneity checks.
Firm Sorting and the Economic Assimilation of Refugees (with Matt Cole, Liza Jabbour, and Ceren Ozgen)
Abstract: We investigate how firm heterogeneity shapes wage gaps between refugees and natives, with a focus on refugees' preferences for co-national networks. Using Dutch employer-employee data from 2014 to 2024, we decompose wage gaps into individual (un)observed characteristics, firm sorting, and pay-setting effects. Individual characteristics explain 60-68% of within-group wage variation and over 80% of between-group gaps. Firm sorting accounts for 14% of the refugee-native gap, while pay-setting effects are minimal, indicating comparable wages within firms. We also document how refugees initially sort into firms with high concentrations of co-nationals, often accepting lower wages in exchange for these networks. This sorting pattern is most pronounced in the initial three years after arrival, when they have limited local human capital. As refugees accumulate host-country human capital over time, they increasingly transition to firms with fewer co-nationals, prioritizing higher wages over these amenities. This evolving sorting behavior explains both the initial wage disadvantage for refugees and their subsequent assimilation.
Presented at Administrative Data Research (ADR) UK Conference, 13th Annual International Conference on Immigration in OECD Countries, 5th EBRD-King’s College London Workshop on the Economics and Politics of Migration, and RFBerlin Migration Forum etc.
Well-being of Refugees and Impact of Assignment Location (with Renee Luthra, and Ceren Ozgen)
This paper examines how local environments shape refugee mental health in the Netherlands. Using unique administrative data covering over 76,000 adult refugees from 2014 to 2023, linked to health insurance prescription records and municipal characteristics, we assess how local co-national networks, anti-immigrant hostility, and urban density influence the use of mental health medication. Leveraging the quasi-random allocation of refugees to municipalities prior to 2017, our design mitigates concerns about selective settlement. We propose and test four sets of hypotheses: that variation in mental health prescriptions reflect (H1) stressors from population density as well as increased access to medical amenities, (H2) the competing effects of co-national concentration on increased mental healthcare access vs improved social support, (H3) variation in the quality of co-national networks, and (H4) the role of local anti-immigrant hostility. Results show that apparent urban density effects are primarily explained by local deprivation. For non-Syrian refugees, higher co-national concentration increases prescription use, whereas no effect emerges for Syrians. Characteristics of the co-national network matter: co-national groups with higher prescription rates strongly amplify refugee prescription use, as does greater average duration in the Netherlands. Finally, anti-immigrant hostility is negatively associated with mental health prescriptions, though this effect attenuates after accounting for socioeconomic characteristics. Together, the findings highlight how locational environments may shape both healthcare access and underlying mental health among refugees, underscoring the importance of municipal-level contexts in refugee integration and well-being.
Work in progress
Firm Pay Premiums and Mental Health with Etheridge, B.
Exposure to Technology Adoption and Well-being of Workers with Etheridge, B.
Parental Separation and Well-being of Ethnic Minority Children with Luthra, R.
Citizenship Acquisition and Educational Outcomes of Second-generation Immigrants with Frattini, T., and Ozgen, C.
UK Keyworkers – An Assessment of Pay, Precarity and Change During the Pandemic with Carmichael, F., Lewis, P. and Mogra, U
Book chapter
Ceren Ozgen, Matt Cole and Hiromi Yumoto, Legal and Economic Integration of Refugees: What Works? , Migration, Displacement and Diversity - The IRiS Anthology, (Oxford Publishing Services, 2023)