Jobs Interventions for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons

Kirsten Schuettler and Laura Caron

No 32152447, Jobs Group Papers, Notes, and Guides from The World Bank

Abstract: Refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) often struggle to integrate the labor market. Even where they have the unrestricted right to work their labor market outcomes lack behind those of other groups, at least in the short- to medium-term. This literature review brings together two strands of research to inform the design of successful job interventions in this context: the evidence on how forced displacement impacts those forcibly displaced in their economic lives and the existing knowledge on jobs interventions for refugees and IDPs. The specific challenges that those forcibly displaced face on the labor market are linked to the loss of assets and separation from family members; the lack of skills required on the host labor market; the impacts of forced displacement on their physical and mental health and their economic behavior (in terms of prospects and aspirations, risk-aversion and time horizon); their legal situation; a lack of social networks and discrimination as well as a high likelihood of excess supply on the labor market at destination. Rigorous quasi-experimental or experimental evidence on jobs interventions for this target group is scarce and mainly focused on high-income countries. A review of the existing literature points to the importance of conducting thorough assessments of the demand and supply side of the labor market, including the legal situation of those forcibly displaced and their perceptions and aspirations, before designing intervention

Keywords: impact on labor force participation; Labor Market; forced displacement; information on labor market; labor market outcome; low labor force participation; forced migrant; lower level of education; female-headed household; active labor market policy; Active Labor Market Policies; Internally Displaced Person; loss of asset; labor market integration; country of origin; lack of skill; economic migrant; mental health issues; law and regulation; place of residence; source of income; source income; human rights violation; poor mental health; separation from family; form of violence; freedom of movement; place of destination; labor market structure; conflict and violence; former soviet union; access to land; social network; post-traumatic stress disorder; Social Security Records; labour force survey; differences in results; victims of violence; recovery of asset; informal labor market; low unemployment rate; propensity score matching; low educational attainment; labor market participation; place of origin; high risk aversion; poor urban population; return to education; transfer of asset; availability of land; impact of intervention; number of jobs; children and youth; lack of evidence; labor market intervention; public sector employment; cash for work; effects of unemployment; job search assistance; value of asset; portfolio work; data on refugees; lack of asset; restrictions on travel; access to network; kind of investment; lack of knowledge; number of refugees; labor market opportunities; geographically remote area; access network; changes in legislation; access to protection; country case study; world war ii; privileges and immunity; dependency ratio; language proficiency; legal situation; Host Communities; asylum seeker; time horizon; Psychological Health; labor demand; literature review; work permit; refugee household; panel data; registry data; host population; language skill; agricultural land; residence permit; physical asset; descriptive statistic; financial service; productive asset; risk appetite; local population; negative effect; registered refugees; low employment; physical health; positive impact; unexpected changes; cross border; refugee camp; refugee woman; work experience; finding employment; pull factor; legal challenge; low wage; discouraged worker; international migrant; economic migration; cost-benefit analysis; settlement policy; job opening; skill mismatch; skill need; local resident; push factor; paper issue; household asset; asset loss; market opportunity; home country; focus group; income loss; congolese refugees; labor supply; high motivation; social capital; geographical restrictions; home countries; field experiment; income earner; small sample; movement restriction; information asymmetry; occupational status; turkish language; psychological effect; experienced violence; signatory countries; positive relationship; access policy; econometric evaluation; domestic employment; social isolation; high wage; geographical area; limited information; local partner; longer period; Social Welfare; participation rate; skill deficiency; subsistence crop; discount rate; future earnings; risk averse; survey results; upward mobility; further education; vicious cycle; female labor; ongoing work; legal restriction; causal impact; future research; psychological consequences; household survey; market segment; dependency rate; asylum claim; productive activity; use rights; still living; asylum application; housing availability; refugee policy; refugee work; refugee admissions; representative survey; resettlement policy; employment condition; internal displacement; cross-sectional data; economic trajectory; cross-sectional nature; refugee status; enrollment gap; new skill; qualitative research; undocumented refugee; primary source; insufficient asset; agricultural worker; child labor; coping strategy; residency status; low-income settings; investment climate; integration measures; Forced Migration; long-term impact; supply side (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 90
Date: 2020-06-01
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

Downloads: (external link)
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/46725159 ... ly-Displaced-Persons

Related works:
Working Paper: Jobs Interventions for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (2020)
Working Paper: Jobs Interventions for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (2020)
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:wbk:jbsgrp:32152447

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Jobs Group Papers, Notes, and Guides from The World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20433. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Selome Assefa Hailemariam ().