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To work or to study? Postmigration educational investments of adult refugees in Germany - evidence from a choice experiment

Author

Listed:
  • Damelang, Andreas

    (FAU)

  • Kosyakova, Yuliya

    (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg, Germany ; University of Mannheim ; University of Bamberg)

Abstract

"In this article, we analyze individual factors and situational conditions under which immigrants are more or less likely to invest in host country-specific human capital. Theoretically, we root our expectations in a strand of the immigrant human capital investment model combined with a basic model of educational decisions. Using a choice experiment, we simulate a decision process among refugees in Germany and examine the determinants of investment decisions into host country-specific credentials such as vocational education. The choice experiment was introduced in the IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees (2020), a representative longitudinal survey of recently arrived refugees in Germany. We find that refugees’ probability of investing in vocational education is guided by the transferability of foreign human capital, the time horizon to reap investments, and rational cost-benefit considerations. The probability of success is influential on its own but also bolsters the relevance of costs and benefits in educational choices." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Suggested Citation

  • Damelang, Andreas & Kosyakova, Yuliya, 2020. "To work or to study? Postmigration educational investments of adult refugees in Germany - evidence from a choice experiment," IAB-Discussion Paper 202031, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    • Handle: RePEc:iab:iabdpa:202031
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bundesrepublik Deutschland ; Aufenthaltsdauer ; berufliche Integration ; berufliche Qualifikation ; Berufsausbildung ; Bildungsinvestitionen ; Determinanten ; Entscheidungsfindung ; Erwartung ; Geflüchtete ; Gleichwertigkeit ; Kosten-Nutzen-Analyse ; Rückwanderungsbereitschaft ; IAB-BAMF-SOEP-Befragung von Geflüchteten ; 2020-2020;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality

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