A substantial increase in the number of refugees has occurred in the recent
decade, with the majority of this increase occurring between 2012 and
2015 as a result of the Syrian conflict. According to the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) data, the number of refugees
was 10.5 million in 2012, while it stood at 32.5 million as of December 2022.
The growth of the refugee population is an increasing concern for origin
states, refugee-hosting states, international aid organisations, and, most importantly,
refugees themselves. In this regard, a study of refugees can contribute
significantly to an understanding of their socioeconomic impact and
experiences in a given country; it also facilitates the development of national
and international policy in this area. This dissertation examines the factors
affecting the integration of refugees into the workforce in a host country, the
correlation between traditional gender roles and the gender gap in labour
force supply, and the impact of refugees on the labour market in order to
contribute to the literature in this field. Thus, there are three chapters in
this dissertation that focus on refugee economies.
In the first chapter, factors associated with the integration of refugees into
the labour market in a developing country context are examined. This study
makes an important contribution as little is known about the economic experience
of refugees, and existing studies have mainly been conducted in
developed countries. This chapter discusses the labour market integration of
refugees by relying on primary survey data from 807 Syrian refugees across
Jordan. The study explores the contribution of general health problems, human
capital, social capital, refugee policy, and being camp residents on the
probability of employment and upward economic mobility of refugees. The
empirical results show that general health problems, labour market restrictions, and being camp residents negatively associate with the probability of
employment and upward economic mobility for refugees. Labour market restrictions
especially have a larger negative influence on women and refugees
who have a high-educational background. The findings also indicate that
refugees who completed job-related training in Jordan are more likely to be
employed than those who did not complete job training, this inclusive refugee
policy especially increases the probability of women employment.
The second chapter examines whether traditional gender role attitudes contribute
to the gender gap in the labour force among refugees by using a
set of gender index questions about traditional gender attitudes. The ratio
of refugee women in the labour market is lower than their male counterparts
regardless of destination countries, but little is known about the link
between traditional gender role attitudes and labour market outcomes of
refugee women. The research is based on primary survey data with Syrian
refugees in Jordan from March 2020 to September 2021 in Jordan. The study
also examines the association between traditional gender norms and Jordanian
women’s participation in the labour force within a national context.
The research aims to provide plausible explanations for the underrepresentation
of women in the labour market. The research findings show that the
gender gap among Syrian refugees is higher than among Jordanians since
refugees are not allowed to work in all sectors as their Jordanian counterparts
are. In addition, the findings show that Syrian refugee women who
hold anti-egalitarian attitudes are 46.7 per cent less likely to join the labour
force compared to women who adhere to egalitarian views. Additionally,
results show that Jordanian women who spend more time on unpaid care
work activities are 64.5 per cent less likely to enter the labour force, as the
uneven distribution of unpaid care work between men and women hinders
their economic development. The findings suggest that low women’s labour
force participation must be understood through the lens of traditional gender role attitudes. Finally, the research findings can be valuable to policymakers
who aim to reduce the gender gap in the labour market in the developing
country context.
The Syrian civil war began in 2011 and forced a large number of displaced
migrants from Syria to Jordan, which is one of Syria’s neighbours. The
third chapter empirically investigates the impact of Syrian refugees on the
labour market outcomes of native-born citizens in Jordan. I explore a posited
causal relationship between the number of Syrian refugees and native-born
citizens‘ labour market outcomes in Jordan through micro-level household
labour surveys. This paper considers the migration of displaced Syrians to
Jordan as two waves, unlike previous papers, where the motive for the initial
wave from 2011 to 2014 differed from that of the second flow. The initial
migration of Syrians to Jordan was exogenous as they were escaping from
the civil war in Syria. This makes a significant difference in the labour
market outcomes of native-born citizens in Jordan. To capture the shortterm
effects of refugees on Jordanians’ labour market outcomes, the research
employed Difference-in-Differences (DiD) models. There is an increase in
the unemployment-to-population ratio for men and women associated with
refugee movements, according to the research findings. In addition, as a result
of the forced movement of Syrian refugees into Jordan, native-born citizens
in the treatment area experience a reduction in labour force participation
by 3.3 percentage points compared to the native-born citizens in the control
area. Finally, the findings indicate that Syrian refugees adversely affect the
wages of native-born employees in a short-term context, but this impact is
not statistically significant.
Recent years have seen a significant increase in the number of refugees around
the world, which highlights the importance of conducting research on factors
that affect refugees’ integration into the labour market, the gender gap, and
the impact of refugees on native-born workers. The current global refugee crisis is affecting millions of people around the world, and it is often referred
to as the worst displacement crisis since the Second World War. A study
of refugees presents an opportunity to investigate the socioeconomic impacts
of refugees, as well as to provide a deeper understanding of what refugees
experience in host countries. The framework presented in this research has
been useful as it discusses refugee integration and reality in policy formulation
and possible solutions pertaining to the worldwide refugee crisis.