Integrating Refugees by Addressing Labor Shortages? A Policy Evaluation

The authors evaluate how a policy introduced in Denmark in 2013, matching refugees to occupations experiencing local labor shortages, affected their employment after arrival. Leveraging the differential exposure to the policy across different cohorts of arrivals and municipalities, the authors find that the policy increased employment probability of refugees by 5–6% points one year after arrival and 10% points two years after. The policy was especially effective for male refugees and refugees with some secondary education. Additionally, the policy did not have any significant displacement effect on other immigrants’ employment.