Integration of Migrants, Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Remote Areas with Declining Populations

Giulia Galera, Leila Giannetto, Andrea Membretti and Antonella Noya
Additional contact information
Giulia Galera: EURICSE
Leila Giannetto: EURICSE
Antonella Noya: OECD

No 2018/03, OECD Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Papers from OECD Publishing

Abstract: This paper examines whether immigration can operate as a counter-process of depopulation and economic recession. Based on the comparative analysis of four case studies in Belluno (Italy), Klagenfurt-Villach (Austria), Dalarna (Sweden), and Haßberge (Germany), it analyses the key socio-economic factors explaining the successful integration of migrants, refugees, status holders and asylum seekers and examines under which conditions the arrival of newcomers can turn into a local development opportunity for these territories. The case studies feature four remote territories with the following common characteristics: they have undergone significant socio-economic transformations over the past decade, they face a population decline with an alarming outmigration of youth combined with an increasing ageing population, and central governments have channelled recent immigration and asylum seekers to peripheral areas to counterbalance negative demographic trends. Results show that integration paths undertaken by recipients differ significantly across the four territories. However, all case studies suggest that stable jobs and accommodations render remote and mountain localities attractive for refugees and status holders, who are usually more inclined to move to urban centres. Lastly, results from the case studies highlight the importance of designing individualised integration paths backed by social inclusion initiatives that can incite spontaneous collaborations and work relations with local inhabitants.

Keywords: ageing; asylum-seekers; immigration; integration; migrants; refugees; social innovation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H75 J08 J61 J68 L31 O35 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-12-19
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur, nep-lab, nep-mig and nep-ure
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1787/84043b2a-en (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oec:cfeaaa:2018/03-en

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in OECD Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Papers from OECD Publishing Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().