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The labor market integration of refugees in the United States: Do entrepreneurs in the network help?

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  • Dagnelie, Olivier
  • Mayda, Anna Maria
  • Maystadt, Jean-François

Abstract

We investigate whether entrepreneurs in the network of refugees – from the same country of origin – help refugees enter the labor market by hiring them. We analyze the universe of refugee cases without U.S. ties who were resettled in the United States between 2005 and 2010. We address threats to identification due to refugees sorting into specific labor markets and to strategic placement by resettlement agencies. We find that the probability that refugees are employed 90 days after arrival is positively affected by the number of business owners in their network, but negatively affected by the number of those who are employees. This suggests that network members who are entrepreneurs hire refugees, while network members working as employees compete with them, which is consistent with refugees complementing the former and substituting for the latter.

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  • Dagnelie, Olivier & Mayda, Anna Maria & Maystadt, Jean-François, 2019. "The labor market integration of refugees in the United States: Do entrepreneurs in the network help?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 257-272.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:111:y:2019:i:c:p:257-272
    DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2018.10.001
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    2. Lens Dries & Marx Ive & Vujić Sunčica, 2019. "Double Jeopardy: How Refugees Fare in One European Labor Market," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 10(1), pages 1-29, June.
    3. Palsson, Craig, 2023. "The forces of path dependence: Haiti's refugee camps, 1937–2009," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    4. Hai‐Anh H. Dang & Trong‐Anh Trinh & Paolo Verme, 2023. "Do refugees with better mental health better integrate? Evidence from the Building a New Life in Australia longitudinal survey," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(12), pages 2819-2835, December.
    5. Matteo Gamalerio & Massimo Morelli & Margherita Negri, 2021. "The Political Economy of Open Borders: Theory and Evidence on the role of Electoral Rules," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 21157, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    6. Francesco Fasani & Tommaso Frattini & Luigi Minale, 2021. "Lift the Ban? Initial Employment Restrictions and Refugee Labour Market Outcomes," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 19(5), pages 2803-2854.
    7. Sinkovics, Noemi & Reuber, A. Rebecca, 2021. "Beyond disciplinary silos: A systematic analysis of the migrant entrepreneurship literature," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(4).
    8. Oussama Ben Atta & Isabelle Chort & Jean-Noël Senne, 2022. "Immigration, integration, and the informal economy in OECD countries," Working Papers hal-03822494, HAL.
    9. Seonho Shin, 2021. "Were they a shock or an opportunity?: The heterogeneous impacts of the 9/11 attacks on refugees as job seekers—a nonlinear multi-level approach," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 61(5), pages 2827-2864, November.
    10. Matteo Gamalerio & Massimo Morelli & Margherita Negri, 2021. "The Political Economy of Open Borders: Theory and Evidence on the role of Electoral Rules," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 21157, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    11. Ibrahim Cifci & Ozan Atsız, 2021. "Understanding the Role of Refugees' Entrepreneurship Motives and Challenges in Integration: Evidence From the Food Industry," Journal of Economy Culture and Society, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 64(64), pages 1-19, December.
    12. Seonho Shin, 2022. "Evaluating the Effect of the Matching Grant Program for Refugees: An Observational Study Using Matching, Weighting, and the Mantel-Haenszel Test," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 103-133, March.
    13. Mayda, Anna-Maria & Parsons, Christopher & Pham, Han & Vézina, Pierre-Louis, 2022. "Refugees and foreign direct investment: Quasi-experimental evidence from US resettlements," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    14. Michael A Clemens, 2022. "The economic and fiscal effects on the United States from reduced numbers of refugees and asylum seekers [Refugees without Assistance: English-language Attainment and Economic Outcomes in the Early," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 38(3), pages 449-486.
    15. Becker, Sascha O. & Ferrara, Andreas, 2019. "Consequences of forced migration: A survey of recent findings," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1-16.
    16. María Luz Moyano-Buitrago, 2021. "Inserción laboral de inmigrantes venezolanas, 2014-2019: ¿acumulación de desventajas?," Revista Sociedad y Economía, Universidad del Valle, CIDSE, issue 44, September.
    17. Ahrens, Achim & Beerli, Andreas & Hangartner, Dominik & Kurer, Selina & Siegenthaler, Michael, 2023. "The Labor Market Effects of Restricting Refugees' Employment Opportunities," IZA Discussion Papers 15901, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Michel Beine & Luisito Bertinelli & Rana Cömertpay & Anastasia Litina & Jean-François Maystadt, 2020. "The Gravity Model of Forced Displacement Using Mobile Phone Data," DEM Discussion Paper Series 20-13, Department of Economics at the University of Luxembourg.
    19. Dang, Hai-Anh & Trinh, Trong-Anh & Verme, Paolo, 2021. "Do Refugees with Better Mental Health Better Integrate? Evidence from the Building a New Life in Australia Longitudinal Survey," IZA Discussion Papers 14766, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Seonho Shin, 2022. "To work or not? Wages or subsidies?: Copula-based evidence of subsidized refugees’ negative selection into employment," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(4), pages 2209-2252, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Refugees; Labor market integration; Entrepreneurship;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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