AUTHOR=Haberfeld Yitchak , Birgier Debora Pricila , Lundh Christer , Elldér Erik TITLE=Selectivity and Internal Migration: A Study of Refugees' Dispersal Policy in Sweden JOURNAL=Frontiers in Sociology VOLUME=4 YEAR=2019 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sociology/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2019.00066 DOI=10.3389/fsoc.2019.00066 ISSN=2297-7775 ABSTRACT=
Following the intensified waves of refugees entering Europe, dispersal policies for newly arrived refugees have been proposed to speed up their integration and to share the financial burden across and within the EU countries. The effectiveness of dispersal policies depends, among other factors, on the extent to which refugees tend to stay in the initial location they are assigned to live in, and on their patterns of self-selectivity during subsequent moves of internal migration. Economic theories of migration suggest that economic immigrants are self-selected to destinations based on their abilities. Highly skilled and motivated people tend to migrate to labor markets with broader opportunity structures, while less capable individuals choose markets that are more sheltered. We use a quasi-experimental design to examine the extent to which those theories are first, applicable to refugees as well, and second, explain their self-sorting into local labor markets at destination. We focus on a refugee cohort that came to Sweden during the period when the so-called “