Demand-side Interventions for Economic Integration of Refugees

This project’s objective is (i) to study the effectiveness of firm-side intermediation services aimed at reducing frictions in the process of hiring refugees, and (ii) to understand the effects on firms of integrating refugees into their workforce. Reducing such frictions is of utmost importance since they depress labor demand for refugees thus harming their prospects at successful integration. Despite their importance, the literature so far has focused on refugee-side interventions. The study's population of firms consists of small and medium-sized businesses which declared an initial interest in hiring refugees. This randomized intervention consists of an intensive information and firm-adapted counseling campaign targeted at treated firms to increase their likelihood of pursuing their initial interest and hiring a refugee. The main objective of this pilot lies in assessing the impact of the treatment on the hiring probability but the team will also study the second stage effect on firms’ economic and social outcomes.