Resilience in refugee economies in practice – empirical evidence from the UK, Germany and Sweden

Refugee employment outcomes vary widely across high-income economies. In some countries, refugees are able to access more and better jobs. Countries in which this is the case can be called resilient. Existing theories fail to account for variation in refugee employment outcomes and hence resilience. This thesis argues that cross-country differences in refugee employment and resilience are the result of different socio-economic models and the institutions associated with them. Hence, this thesis proposes an institutional account of resilience. Qualitative comparative case studies are used to explain three different patterns of labour market resilience, each of which is associated with a different socio-economic regime. The Liberal Model, represented by the UK, is associated with a relatively fast labour market integration and a high concentration of refugee entrepreneurs. A large low-skilled sector facilitates waged employment, while entrepreneurship can act as a vehicle for socio-economic integration in a labour market characterized by few regulations. The Conservative Continental Model, represented by Germany, is associated with slow, but steady labour market integration and a high concentration of refugees in medium-skilled jobs that require vocational qualifications. Finally, the Nordic Model, represented by Sweden, is associated with slow, but steady labour market integration and a high concentration of refugees in jobs that require post-secondary education. There are two important findings that follow from this study. Firstly, there is not a single pathway to enhance labour market resilience. Resilience is context-specific. Secondly, advanced market economies have the real capacity to integrate refugees into their labour markets successfully.