Research

This paper uses newly digitized Canada-Vermont border crossing records from the early twentieth century to document substantial differences in how female and male migrants sorted across US destination counties by earnings potential. Income maximization largely explains sorting patterns among men. For single women, gender-based labor market constraints were important, with locations offering more work opportunities attracting women with higher earnings capacity. Among married women, destination choices were much less influenced by labor market characteristics. These findings reveal how labor market constraints based on gender and marriage influence the allocation of migrant talent across destinations.

Refugees spend months or years waiting for asylum decisions under uncertainty. To understand how this waiting time influences their integration into the host country, we use information on the universe of asylum seekers’ to Finland and follow their trajectories using administrative records. We leverage variation in the processing times of applications that are due to quasi-random allocation of applications to immigration caseworkers who handle cases at different speeds. We find that children are not less or more likely to pursue secondary education when they have to wait longer for an asylum decision. This is driven by the fact that all children are allowed to directly participate in comprehensive education irrespective or their permit status. We also find that adults become less economically self-sufficient and face a penalty at labor market entry due to longer wait times, driven by delays in access to the market. Our estimates suggest that net fiscal impact of an additional month waiting is negative for each adult asylum seeker. Together, the results suggests that longer wait times can detrimentally affect integration into the host country in the short and the long run, but that access to education can protect children from this.