Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics

Working Paper Series,
IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy

No 2022:1: Limbo or leverage? Asylum waiting and refugee integration

Mattias Engdahl (), Olof Rosenqvist () and Olof Åslund ()
Additional contact information
Mattias Engdahl: IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy, Postal: Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy, P O Box 513, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
Olof Rosenqvist: IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy, Postal: Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy, P O Box 513, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
Olof Åslund: IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy, Postal: Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy, P O Box 513, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden

Abstract: We study the impact of asylum waiting, exploiting a rapid increase in processing times for asylum seekers to Sweden in 2014. Longer waiting slows down the integration process and affects labor market outcomes for an extended period. Accumulated earnings during the first four years after application are 2.3 percent lower per added month of waiting. The impact appears to be due to delay rather than negative effects of waiting per se. There is no evidence of detrimental effects on psychiatric or other forms of health. From the date of being granted asylum, people who have waited longer perform better in the labor market and exhibit higher entry into more advanced language training and labor market measures.

Keywords: Asylum waiting; labor market; health

JEL-codes: J15; J15; J68

Language: English

47 pages, January 10, 2022

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