Migration Observatory Seminar – Matti Sarvimaki (Aalto University), 13th September 2022 at 12:00 – 13.15 (CET)

Matti Sarvimaki (Aalto University) on ”Intergenerational Spillovers of Integration Policies: Evidence from Finland’s Integration Plans“, jointly organised by Centro Studi Luca d’Agliano and Fondazione Collegio Carlo Alberto.

The seminar will be held on Tuesday, 13th September 2022 from 12:00 to 13.15 (CET) at Fondazione Collegio Carlo Alberto, Turin.

Abstract

This paper shows that an integration policy aimed at unemployed adult immigrants generated positive spillovers for their children. Our research design builds on a discontinuity in the phase-in-rule of Finland’s 1999 reform that introduced integration plans—a new approach for allocating unemployed immigrants to active labor market policies. We find that parents’ integration plans substantially improved their children’s grades and educational attainment and reduced their time out of employment, education, or training. Our examination of potential mechanisms suggests that integration plans increased parents’ earnings, employment and exposure to native colleagues and pushed their children to better schools.