Hired in High Season: Seasonal Labor Demand and Refugee Labor Market Integration

Felix Degenhardt ()
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Felix Degenhardt: University of Potsdam, CEPA, BSoE

No 101, CEPA Discussion Papers from Center for Economic Policy Analysis

Abstract: I examine whether early but temporary access to low-barrier hospitality employment affects refugees’ labor market integration. I exploit within-region, within-year variation by combining the quasiexogenous allocation of refugees to Austrian regions with seasonality in hospitality, where 25% of refugees first find work. Labor market access during high seasonal demand raises early employment probability by 3 percentage points (9% of the mean). Employment gains fade after one year, but treated refugees accumulate significantly higher three-year earnings, with no differences in medium-term wages or job quality. However, early hospitality work increases segregation into refugee-typical industries and firms with fewer Austrian coworkers.

Keywords: refugees; labor market integration; seasonal employment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J15 J24 J61 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-06
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pot:cepadp:101

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