The labor market impact of refugee immigration in Sweden 1999–2007

This study estimates labor market effects of refugee immigration in Sweden 1999–2007. The setting is particularly suitable for using spatial variation within the country to estimate labor market effects of immigration. Bias from endogenous immigrant settlement is likely to be smaller when estimating the effect of only refugee immigration. Bias from internal migration of previous inhabitants is reduced by using data where the same individuals are identified over time. No significant effect of refugee immigration on total unemployment is found, but there is a large effect on the unemployment of previous immigrants from low- and middle-income countries, indicating that newly arrived refugee immigrants are substantially more easily substituted for this group than for natives in production.