Assimilating Immigrants: The Impact of an Integration Program

Immigration policy design is an important and controversial topic in most developed countries. We inform this debate by evaluating the effects of an integration program for immigrants to Finland. The program consists of an individualized sequence of training and subsidized employment. Non-compliance is sanctioned by reductions in welfare benefits. Our empirical strategy exploits a discontinuity that made participation obligatory in May 1999 only for those who had entered the population register after May 1997. The results suggest that the program strongly increased the employment and earnings of immigrants and reduced their dependency on social benefits.Immigrants, assimilation, integration programs, regression-discontinuity

Sources of job and worker flows: Evidence from a panel of regions

The aim of this study is to explore the structure and the dynamics of regional labour markets in terms of gross job and worker flows. The regional turnover rates are related to macroeconomic factors, industry-structure and demographic factors by employing the data of 85 Finnish regions over the period of 1988-1997. The results imply that different factors can have similar effects on net changes in employment and unemployment by various means of affecting gross changes.job flows; worker flows; dynamic panel data estimation

The employment and unemployment effects of Finnish active labour market programmes

The persistence of high unemployment has placed increasing stress on the role of active labour market policies. They have been seen as the main policy tool in moving individuals from income support to employment. This thesis attempts to evaluate the effectiveness of active labour market policy in fulfilling the difficult task given to it. This is done by empirically exploring the impact of active labour market programmes on the overall level of open unemployment, participants' repeat unemployment incidence and their subsequent employment record. By this means, the thesis examines the achievement of both macroeconomic and individual goals given to active labour market policy. The main finding running through all chapters, and consequently through different estimation methods, samples and aggregation levels, is that active labour market policy improves the employment performance of the economy but it can help only so far as it goes. The beneficial effect remains far too limited to bring down the current high levels of unemployment or to wipe out the gap in labour market possibilities prevailing between advantaged and disadvantaged individuals. This is not to say that active labour market policy would not be useful in conjunction with other policies affecting unemployment, but without any support its effects will remain modest

Housing, dynamics of regional labour markets and migration

The aim of this study is to explore the structure and the dynamics of regional labour markets in terms of gross migration flows in Finland. The study addresses also the composition of gross migration flows. The study exploits the fact that Finland is divided into 85 sub-regions (the so-called NUTS4-level in the European Union). The yearly observations cover the period from 1989 to 1997. Gross migration rates are related to macroeconomic indicators, demographic factors, industry-structure and gross flows of jobs and workers by employing the data of 85 Finnish regions. The variables that characterize the evolution of gross migration flows and the structure of economic fundamentals in the Finnish regions are collected by using aggregate data from Statistics Finland. The study includes macroeconomic indicators due to the fluctuations of the Finnish economy over the period of the investigation. The measurement of regional labour market flows applies a large longitudinal data of employees over the period from 1987 to 1997. The applied panel data is constructed by matching the measures of gross and worker flows and gross migration flows with the economic fundamentals (including macroeconomic indicators). The estimation results imply that different factors can have similar effects on net changes in migration flows by various means of affecting gross changes. In particular, the migration equations show that the idiosyncratic factors (i.e. unobservable individual-level characteristics) play definitely a more important role for gross migration flows of employees with higher university degrees

Assimilating Immigrants : The Impact of an Integration Program

Immigration policy design is an important and controversial topic in most developed countries. We inform this debate by evaluating the effects of an integration program for immigrants to Finland. The program consists of an individualized sequence of training and subsidized employment. Non-compliance is sanctioned by reductions in welfare benefits. Our empirical strategy exploits a discontinuity that made participation obligatory in May 1999 only for those who had entered the population register after May 1997. The results suggest that the program strongly increased the employment and earnings of immigrants and reduced their dependency on social benefits

Employment Assimilation of Immigrants - Evidence from Finland

This paper analyses economic effects of immigrants that moved to Finland be-tween 1990 and 2000. The focus is on labour market participation, which affects direct taxes paid and income transfers received by immigrants. Immigrants are followed from the year of immigration up to 2000 or out-migration. Countries of origin are grouped into four categories: OECD, neighbouring countries (Russia and Estonia), the "JIIS-countries” (i.e. former Yugoslavia, Iran, Irak and Soma-lia), and remaining other countries. The main result is that employment of immi-grants strongly increases over the years stayed in Finland. Consequently, non-humanitarian immigrants pay more direct taxes than they receive in income transfers after six years of immigration. When humanitarian immigration is in-cluded, the balance remains negative throughout the period of investigation. The analysis is based on immigrants staying in Finland for at least one year following immigration. Immigrants' use of public services and consumption are excluded from the analysis, due to data availability

Kilpailukyky ja työn tarjonta - oppia Ruotsin kokemuksista?

Raportti sisältää talousneuvoston marraskuussa 2012 Tukholmassa pidettyä kilpailukyvyn ja työn tarjonnan teemakokousta varten laaditut taustaraportit. Konjunkturinstitutin raportti Kilpailukyvyn kehitys Suomessa ja Ruotsissa on perusteellinen katsaus maiden kansainvälisen kilpailukyvyn viimeaikaiseen kehitykseen. VATT:n Juhana Vartiaisen muistio Makrotalouspolitiikka Euroopan talous- ja rahaliitossa ja sen ulkopuolella täydentää KI:n raporttia tarkastelemalla Ruotsin ja Suomen valuuttajärjestelmien välisiä periaatteellisia eroja raha-, finanssi- ja rakennepolitiikan näkökulmasta. VATT:n Kari Hämäläisen laatima muistio Näkökulmia Suomen ja Ruotsin työmarkkinoihin vertailee naapurimaiden työmarkkinoiden kykyä työllistää työikäistä väestöä sekä arvioi viime vuosina toteutettuja työmarkkinareformeja

Konkurrenskraft och arbetsutbud - lärdomar av Sveriges erfarenheter?

Rapporten innehåller de bakgrundsrapporter som utarbetades för det temamöte om konkurrenskraft och utbudet av arbete som ekonomiska rådet ordnade i Stockholm i november 2012. Konjunkturinstitutets rapport En jämförelse av nationell konkurrenskraft i Sverige och Finland är en grundlig översikt över den senaste tidens utveckling av konkurrenskraften i bägge länder. Promemorian Makroekonomisk politik inom och utanför EMU - en kort tankeram av Juhana Vartiainen vid VATT kompletterar Konjunkturinstitutets rapport genom att ta upp de principiella skillnaderna ur penning-, finans- och strukturpolitikens synvinkel mellan valutasystemen i Sverige och Finland. Promemorian Perspektiv på arbetsmarknaden i Sverige och i Finland av Kari Hämäläinen vid VATT jämför den förmåga arbetsmarknaderna i de bägge länderna har att sysselsätta personer i arbetsför ålder och utvärderar de arbetsmarknadsreformer som genomförts under de senaste åren

Sources of job and worker flows: Evidence from a panel of regions

The aim of this study is to explore the structure and the dynamics of regional labour markets in terms of gross job and worker flows. The regional turnover rates are related to macroeconomic factors, industry-structure and demographic factors by employing the data of 85 Finnish regions over the period of 1988-1997. The results imply that different factors can have similar effects on net changes in employment and unemployment by various means of affecting gross changes

Valolla voidaan säädellä tomaatin kypsymistä sadonkorjuun jälkeenkin

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