Suchergebnisse

Defence date: 16 April 2016 ; Examining Board: Professor Dr. rer. Pol. Dr. h.c. Hans-Peter Blossfeld, European University Institute; Professor Dr. Dmitry Kurakin, Higher School of Economics; Professor Dr. David Bills, University of Iowa, Professor Dr. Klarita Gërxhani, European University Institute. ; The collapse of the Soviet Union and subsequent rapid shifts in economic, political, and social institutional arrangements – labeled here as a regime change – offer a unique opportunity to explore how patterns of social inequality vary across broader institutional contexts and over time. How the stratification order between different social groups has changed in the aftermath of the regime change in Russia is a central question I raise in this thesis. In contrast to prior research, I draw on a life-course perspective and address several rather untouched aspects of social inequalities in Soviet and post-Soviet societies and investigate them in terms of school-to-work and work-to-school transitions in the earlier and later life courses. Empirically, I employ powerful longitudinal data from the Education and Employment Survey for Russia (EES) linked to the Russian Gender and Generation Survey (GGS), which cover life trajectories in a time-frame between 1965 and 2005. Compared with previous studies, that data enable me to utilize a much larger observation window to scrutinize long-term consequence of the regime change in Russia. First, I tackle social inequality in terms of horizontal gender differences and vertical gender inequalities upon labor market entry. My findings reveal that despite proclaimed equality principles, the school-to-work transition was by no means gender-neutral in Soviet Russia, with women facing a net vertical disadvantage in job authority. This inequality has increased even more since the collapse of the Soviet Union, particularly due to worsening chances for female entrants. Second, I explore inequality of adult-educational opportunity due to initial educational level and occupational position. My results suggest that selective participation in adult education might lessen or exacerbate inequality of adult-educational opportunity depending on type of adult education and analyzed group of participants. Nonetheless, the collapse of the Soviet Union has contributed to inequality of adult-educational opportunity, thereby strengthening the exacerbation effects of adult education on social inequalities. Third, I investigate whether participation in adult education may improve career opportunities, thereby mitigating social inequalities that emerged in the earlier life course. My findings show that adult education either benefits all participants or those who are already advantaged. Overall, the results point to a mechanism of persistence or reinforcement of social inequalities. Furthermore, returns to adult education have decreased or been not offset since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Finally, throughout my thesis I put a particular focus on gender. Altogether, my findings unravel noteworthy gender inequalities arising in the initial career stages. These initial (dis-)advantages cumulate over men's and women's life courses, thereby contributing to overall social inequality in Russia, and specifically during the post- Soviet period. I conclude that the regime change was accompanied by a widening of preexisting social distances and an effective amplification of the Russian society's stratification order.

The paper sheds light on the patterns of labor market integration of refugees in Western countries, who arrived primarily during the 2015–2016 mass refugee migration. Its major focus lies on the role of individual and contextual factors responsible for refugees' success in the labor market. At the host country level, the extent of permeability along the ethnic lines and the welcome of reception—both on the part of the majority population and the part of the established minorities—constitute further essential moderators of refugees' labor market success. This comprehensive literature overview draws on the flourishing body of research in Europe and beyond and discusses commonalities and differences across refugee origins and destinations while paying particular attention to the time trends and meaningful heterogeneities along with refugees' socio-demographic characteristics. We conclude by identifying major avenues for future research.

Objective: This article investigates the role of social connections - kin proximity, premigration friends, and exposure to intra- and interethnic contacts in the host country - in the division of routine housework in refugee couples in Germany. Background: Although social connections are established as an influential factor in the economic and societal integration of newcomers, the role of such connections for the household division of labor among immigrant couples is less understood. Method: Pooled OLS and fixed-effect models were applied to four waves of the longitudinal IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees (2016-2019) to study coupled refugees of working age (1,045 couples, 2,699 couple-years). Results: We find that social connections are significant to the gendered division of routine housework among refugee couples. In particular, networks consisting of new inter- and intraethnic contacts are more influential than those consisting of kins and premigration friends. Moreover, it appears that the kin and new coethnic contacts of the husband are negatively related to their involvement in housework in absolute hours and relative to their wives. Husbands' new contacts with Germans are positively related to their involvement in routine housework. In turn, wives' contacts with Germans are not associated with a more egalitarian division of housework. Conclusion: Social networks may provide useful explanations for immigrants' domestic behavior, and they should be considered in setting up new policies that guide their integration.

Abstract
Extending free movement of workers (FMW) to the new Member States from Central and Eastern Europe was one of the most controversial political decisions in the history of the European Union. In this article, we study how the introduction of FMW affected immigrants' labor market integration in Germany. Using data from the IAB-SOEP Migration Sample,1 we show that the introduction of FMW was associated with a higher influx of skilled workers. Moreover, FMW has increased the probability of labor market entry within one year after arrival by 12 percentage points. Correspondingly, FMW improved welfare not only by increasing the scale of migration but also by raising immigrants' skill level and reducing the time before entry into the labor market. Our findings thus yield new insights on the beneficial effects of FMW on labor market integration of immigrants in the Common Market.

Because of their often-dramatic, life-threatening flight patterns and resulting pronounced health disparities, many refugees have a great need for medical treatment after arrival to their host countries. In Germany, refugees whose asylum application is not approved or whose duration of stay has not yet exceeded 15 months must request doctor visits, with a considerable amount of bureaucracy, from the local responsible authority. Since 2016, however, several federal states and municipalities in Germany have introduced electronic health cards ( eHCs) which give refugees immediate and unbureaucratic access to the healthcare system. We examine whether being eligible for eHCs because of this policy change had an effect on multidimensional health indicators for refugees in Germany. For empirical identification, we take advantage of variation in policy adoption across German regions and over time. Relying on the IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees, we find that being eligible for eHCs because of the policy change improved the mental well-being and subjective health assessment of recently arrived refugees, while having no impact on physical health status. These results can be traced back to the moderating effect of facilitated healthcare access on post-migration stress, which is known to affect primarily psychological well-being. Moreover, facilitated healthcare access appears to alleviate potential language and cultural barriers faced by refugees with low health literacy (measured by the ability to read or write in the origin-country language). Altogether, the article illustrates how structural and institutional constraints may shape individual health outcomes of adult refugees.

We analyze the role of personality traits in destination-language proficiency among recent refugees in Germany. While personality traits have been shown to predict educational outcomes, they have been largely overlooked for immigrants' language acquisition. We extend a well-established model of destination-language proficiency and assume that personality traits' effects manifest through the channels of exposure, efficiency, and incentives. Using longitudinal data and growth curve models, we find that personality traits significantly shaped destination-language learning. Openness to new experiences, conscientiousness, risk appetite, locus of control and resilience were positively related to destination-language proficiency, while agreeableness and neuroticism were insignificant. The positive impact of extraversion and the negative impact of self-esteem on destination-language proficiency were only marginally significant. For all personality traits, we observe that both the efficiency of learning and exposure to learning opportunities represented possible channels through which personality traits affected refugees' destination-language proficiency. In sum, personality traits affect refugees' destination-language proficiency and, thereby, contribute to sustainable economic and societal integration processes. We conclude by discussing implications for international migration research and policy.

AbstractIn countries around the world, population aging, technological change, and labor market transformations are leading to an increasing incidence of mismatch between the skills and credentials held by workers and those required by their jobs. This is leading large numbers of people to return to schooling to enhance their prospects in the workplace. Access to adult education is highly stratified, and the returns to educational re‐entry vary across social categories. This state‐of‐the‐art paper focuses on two aspects. First, it examines the degree to which adult education (specifically, degree‐bearing education) most benefits the less advantaged and thus mitigates socioeconomic inequality (second chance effects). Second, it addresses the degree to which the benefits of adult education go primarily to those who are already advantaged (Matthew Effects). Our review adopts the perspective of the socioeconomic life course and is explicitly cross‐nationally comparative.

We analyze socioemotional skills' role for destination-language proficiency among recent refugees in Germany. While socioemotional skills have been shown to predict educational outcomes, they have been overlooked for immigrants' language acquisition. We extend a well-established model of destination-language proficiency and assume that socioemotional skills' effects manifest through the channels of exposure, efficiency, and incentives. Using longitudinal data and growth curve models, we find that socioemotional skills significantly shape destinationlanguage learning. Openness to new experiences, conscientiousness, risk appetite and locus of control positively relate to language proficiency, while extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism are insignificant. We observe mediating effects, suggesting that socioemotional skills shape the channels of efficiency or exposure. Moreover, we observe multiplication effects reinforcing other advanta-geous characteristics' effects on language proficiency. In sum, socioemotional skills affect refugees' destination-language proficiency and thereby contribute to sustainable economic and societal integration processes. We conclude by discussing policy implications. ; Wir analysieren die Rolle sozio-emotionaler Fähigkeiten für den Erwerb der deutschen Sprache von Geflüchteten, die zwischen 2013 und 2016 nach Deutschland zugezogen sind. Bisher wurden sozio-emotionale Fähigkeiten im Kontext der Bildungsforschung betrachtet, jedoch wurde ihre Bedeutung für den Spracherwerb von Migranten noch nicht untersucht. Wir erweitern ein bekanntes theoretisches Modell des Spracherwerbs des Aufnahmelandes von Migranten und Migrantinnen und nehmen dabei an, dass sozio-emotionale Fähigkeiten über die Kanäle der Gelegenheiten für, beziehungsweise des Zugans, zum Lernen, der Effizienz und der Motivation wirken. Anhand von Längschnittsdaten und Wachstumskurvenmodellen zeigen wir, dass sozioemotionale Fähigkeiten signifikant den Erwerb der Sprache des Ziellandes prägen. Offenheit für neue Erfahrungen, Gewissenhaftigkeit, Risikofreude und Kontrollüberzeugungen stehen in positivem Zusammenhang mit Sprachkenntnissen. Dahingegen finden wir keine signifikanten Zusammenhänge für Extraversion, Verträglichkeit und Neurotizismus. Mediationseffekte deuten an, dass sozio-emotionale Fähigkei-ten die Kanäle der Effizienz und des Kontaktes formen. Darüberhinaus zeigen Multiplikationsef-fekte, dass sozio-emotionale Fähigkeiten andere vorteilhafte Eigenschaften verstärken. Zusammenfassend beeinflussen sozio-emotionale Fähigkeiten somit den Erwerb der Sprache des Aufnahmelandes und tragen zu einem nachhaltigen ökonomischen und sozialen Integrationsprozess bei. Wir schließen mit einer Diskussion der politischen Implikationen.

Abstract
Asylum recognition rates in advanced democracies differ not only across states but also vary within them, translating into fluctuating individual chances to obtain protection. Existing studies on the determinants of these regional inequities typically rely on aggregate data. Utilizing a German refugee survey and leveraging a quasi-natural experiment arising from state-based allocation rules tied to national dispersal policies, we test two explanations for the perplexing regional differences. Drawing on principal–agent models of administrative decision-making, we test whether asylum decision-makers consciously or unconsciously comply with regional political preferences between 2015 and 2017 in Germany, one of the major European destination countries for refugee migration. We furthermore explore whether such biased decision-making amplifies in times of organizational stress as suggested by the statistical discrimination theory. Using mixed-effects logistic regressions, our analyses confirm a lower approval probability in regions with more immigration-averse residents or governments. We cannot confirm, however, that this association is mediated by high workloads or large knowledge gaps. Our results thus suggest that regional political biases affect the individual chance of asylum-seekers to obtain protection irrespective of temporal administrative conditions.

Das Erlernen der deutschen Sprache spielt eine Schlüsselrolle für die Integration von neu zugewanderten Menschen. In diesem Beitrag wird der Zweitspracherwerb von Personen, die im vergangenen Jahrzehnt in die Bundesrepublik gekommen sind, in den ersten Jahren nach dem Zuzug untersucht. Hierzu werden Geflüchtete mit anderen Neuzugewanderten verglichen. Die Auswertungen verweisen auf ähnliche Prozesse des Zweitspracherwerbs in beiden Gruppen. Wichtig für die Verbesserung der Deutschkenntnisse sind vor allem die Lerngelegenheiten, die sich einerseits im Alltagsleben über Kontakte zu anderen ergeben, andererseits in strukturierten Lernsituationen stattfinden, wie beim Besuch von Sprachkursen. Die Ergebnisse belegen, dass solche Kurse in recht kurzer Zeit zu deutlichen Zuwächsen bei den Deutschkenntnissen führen. Gerade bei Geflüchteten spielen Sprachkurse eine wichtige Rolle, während andere Zugewanderte auch stark von Alltagskontakten profitieren. Insbesondere Sprachkurse sind also ein effektives Instrument, mit der die Politik über entsprechende Angebote neu zugewanderte Personen beim Erwerb von Sprachkenntnissen gezielt unterstützen kann.

Das Erlernen der deutschen Sprache spielt eine Schlüsselrolle für die Integration von neu zugewanderten Menschen. In diesem Beitrag wird der Zweitspracherwerb von Personen, die im vergangenen Jahrzehnt in die Bundesrepublik gekommen sind, in den ersten Jahren nach dem Zuzug untersucht. Hierzu werden Geflüchtete mit anderen Neuzugewanderten verglichen. Die Auswertungen verweisen auf ähnliche Prozesse des Zweitspracherwerbs in beiden Gruppen. Wichtig für die Verbesserung der Deutschkenntnisse sind vor allem die Lerngelegenheiten, die sich einerseits im Alltagsleben über Kontakte zu anderen ergeben, andererseits in strukturierten Lernsituationen stattfinden, wie beim Besuch von Sprachkursen. Die Ergebnisse belegen, dass solche Kurse in recht kurzer Zeit zu deutlichen Zuwächsen bei den Deutschkenntnissen führen. Gerade bei Geflüchteten spielen Sprachkurse eine wichtige Rolle, während andere Zugewanderte auch stark von Alltagskontakten profitieren. Insbesondere Sprachkurse sind also ein effektives Instrument, mit der die Politik über entsprechende Angebote neu zugewanderte Personen beim Erwerb von Sprachkenntnissen gezielt unterstützen kann.