Publication

Given the large numbers of refugees who entered Europe in 2015, this paper looks back at the experiences of five Western European countries – Austria, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden – that integrated Bosnian refugees into their labor markets in the early 1990s. The overall results of the study show that 1) the integration process was a success; 2) under favorable integration policies and labor market conditions, immigrant employment rates reach those of the native population in little more than a decade; 3) granting the right to work quickly upon arrival is important, but failing to do so can still lead to good long-term labor market outcomes; 4) initial unemployment rates in host countries are important, but again, need not inhibit labor market integration in the longer term; and 5) second-generation Bosnians, or those who arrived at a young age, perform roughly on a par with native-born cohorts.