Hiring Refugees as Apprentices: The Role of Skills, Signals, and Policy Interventions

Christina Felfe (), Lukas Kagerbauer (), Max Müller, Christoph Sajons (), Judith Saurer () and Thomas Zwick

CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series from University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany

Abstract: Do refugees face systematic disadvantages in the apprenticeship market and what measures can mitigate them? We address these questions using a combination of discrete choice experiments and information treatments involving 800 firms in Ger many. Our findings show that refugees are much less likely to be accepted for ap prenticeships than their native counterparts, unless they are substantially better qualified in terms of formal education. However, this gap can be significantly re duced through two key mechanisms: signaling soft skills such as discipline, moti vation, and reliability, and implementing public policy programs that enhance job specific language proficiency and job readiness.

Keywords: Labor shortages; Vocational training; Refugees; Soft skills; Integration policies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J15 J24 J61 J68 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 76
Date: 2026-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-lma and nep-mig
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2025_778

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