The Violent Legacy of Conflict: Evidence on Asylum Seekers, Crime, and Public Policy in Switzerland

We study empirically how past exposure to conflict in origin countries makes migrants more violence-prone in their host country, focusing on asylum seekers in Switzerland. We exploit a novel and unique dataset on all crimes reported in Switzerland by the nationalities of perpetrators and of victims over 2009–2016. Our baseline result is that cohorts exposed to civil conflict/mass killing during childhood are 35 percent more prone to violent crime than the average cohort. This effect is particularly strong for early childhood exposure and is mostly confined to co-nationals, consistent with inter-group hostility persisting over time. We exploit cross-region heterogeneity in public policies within Switzerland to document which integration policies are best able to mitigate the detrimental effect of past conflict exposure on violent criminality. We find that offering labor market access to asylum seekers eliminates two-thirds of the effect. (JEL D74, F22, K42, Z18)

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Are asylum seekers more likely to work with more inclusive labor market access regulations?

Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics ◽

10.1186/s41937-019-0046-2 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 155 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Michaela Slotwinski ◽

Alois Stutzer ◽

Roman Uhlig

Keyword(s):

Labor Market ◽

Asylum Seekers ◽

Market Access ◽

Initial Period ◽

Early Integration ◽

Labor Market Policies ◽

The Face ◽

Labor Market Access ◽

The One

Abstract In the face of recent refugee migration, early integration of asylum seekers into the labor market has been proposed as an important mechanism for easing their economic and social lot in the short as well as in the long term. However, little is known about the policies that foster or hamper their participation in the labor market, in particular during the important initial period of their stay in the host country. In order to evaluate whether inclusive labor market policies increase the labor market participation of asylum seekers, we exploit the variation in asylum policies in Swiss cantons to which asylum seekers are as good as randomly allocated. During our study period from 2011 to 2014, the employment rate among asylum seekers varied between 0 and 30.2% across cantons. Our results indicate that labor market access regulations are responsible for a substantial proportion of these differences, in which an inclusive regime increases participation by 11 percentage points. The marginal effects are larger for asylum seekers who speak a language that is linguistically close to the one in their host canton. Summary Inclusive labor market access regulations substantially increase the employment chances of asylum seekers, in particular if the language distance is short.

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Self-Perceived Health Among Migrants Seen in Médecins du Monde Free Clinics in Europe: Impact of Length of Stay and Wealth of Country of Origin on Migrants’ Health

10.20944/preprints201906.0090.v1 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Simon Jean-Baptiste Combes ◽

Nathalie Simonnot ◽

Fabienne Azzedine ◽

Abdessamad Aznague ◽

Pierre Chauvin

Keyword(s):

Length Of Stay ◽

Host Country ◽

Asylum Seekers ◽

Perceived Health ◽

Migrant Health ◽

Free Clinics ◽

Men And Women ◽

Positive Effect ◽

Over Time ◽

Unique Dataset

Health of migrant is a widely studied topic. It has been argued that migrant health may deteriorate over time. Though migrants are ‘a hard to reach’ population in survey data, this paper builds on a unique dataset provided by Médecins du Monde from five countries. We study self perceived health (SPH) in connection with socio-economic and demographic factors and length of stay. Results show different results for men and women. Asylum seekers compared to other documented migrants have a worse health. Migrants with better living conditions tend to be in better health. Employment and stable accommodation has a positive effect on SPH. Women from poorer countries have a better physical SPH after 3 months of residing in the host country. This paper contributes widely to knowledge of health of migrants. Contrarily to other evidence, health of migrants tends to improve for some migrants.

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Self-Perceived Health among Migrants Seen in Médecins du Monde Free Clinics in Europe: Impact of Length of Stay and Wealth of Country of Origin on Migrants’ Health

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph16244878 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (24) ◽

pp. 4878 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Simon Jean-Baptiste Combes ◽

Nathalie Simonnot ◽

Fabienne Azzedine ◽

Abdessamad Aznague ◽

Pierre Chauvin

Keyword(s):

Length Of Stay ◽

Asylum Seekers ◽

Perceived Health ◽

Good Health ◽

Migrant Health ◽

Free Clinics ◽

Women Migrants ◽

Men And Women ◽

Over Time ◽

Unique Dataset

Health of migrants is a widely studied topic. It has been argued that migrant health may deteriorate over time. Though migrants are a “hard to reach” population in survey data, this paper builds on a unique dataset provided by Médecins du Monde from five countries. We study self-perceived health (SPH) in connection with socio-economic and demographic factors and length of stay. Results differ for men and women. Compared to other documented migrants, asylum seekers have a 50–70% greater chance of having worse health. Migrants with better living conditions have a 57–78% chance of being in better health. Male migrants with a job have between a 82–116% chance of being in good health. The probability for women from poorer countries to have a better physical SPH after three months of residing in the host country is six-fold that of women from richer countries. This paper contributes widely to the knowledge of health of migrants. Contrary to other evidence, health of women migrants from poorer countries tends to improve with length of stay.

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Investigating the President

10.23943/princeton/9780691171852.001.0001 ◽

2016 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Douglas L. Kriner ◽

Eric Schickler

Keyword(s):

Public Policy ◽

Political Theater ◽

Policy Outcomes ◽

Presidential Power ◽

Political Pressure ◽

Comprehensive Overview ◽

Partisan Polarization ◽

Approval Rating ◽

Congressional Investigations ◽

Over Time

Although congressional investigations have provided some of the most dramatic moments in American political history, they have often been dismissed as mere political theater. But these investigations are far more than grandstanding. This book shows that congressional investigations are a powerful tool for members of Congress to counter presidential aggrandizement. By shining a light on alleged executive wrongdoing, investigations can exert significant pressure on the president and materially affect policy outcomes. This book constructs the most comprehensive overview of congressional investigative oversight to date, analyzing nearly 13,000 days of hearings, spanning more than a century, from 1898 through 2014. The book examines the forces driving investigative power over time and across chambers, and identifies how hearings might influence the president’s strategic calculations through the erosion of the president’s public approval rating, and uncover the pathways through which investigations have shaped public policy. Put simply, by bringing significant political pressure to bear on the president, investigations often afford Congress a blunt, but effective check on presidential power—without the need to worry about veto threats or other hurdles such as Senate filibusters. In an era of intense partisan polarization and institutional dysfunction, the book delves into the dynamics of congressional investigations and how Congress leverages this tool to counterbalance presidential power.

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Market access, teff production, and fertilizer use over time

10.2499/9780896292833_06 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Keyword(s):

Market Access ◽

Fertilizer Use ◽

Over Time

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Environmentalists, Nuclear Waste, and the Politics of Passive Exclusion in Germany

German Politics & Society ◽

10.3167/104503001782486254 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 19 (4) ◽

pp. 43-63 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Christian Hunold

Keyword(s):

Public Policy ◽

Public Sphere ◽

Nuclear Waste ◽

Environmental Movement ◽

The State ◽

Radioactive Wastes ◽

Liberal Democratic ◽

Democratic State ◽

Ecological Democracy ◽

Over Time

In this essay I examine the dispute between the German GreenParty and some of the country’s environmental nongovernmentalorganizations (NGOs) over the March 2001 renewal of rail shipmentsof highly radioactive wastes to Gorleben. My purpose indoing so is to test John Dryzek’s 1996 claim that environmentalistsought to beware of what they wish for concerning inclusion in theliberal democratic state. Inclusion on the wrong terms, arguesDryzek, may prove detrimental to the goals of greening and democratizingpublic policy because such inclusion may compromise thesurvival of a green public sphere that is vital to both. Prospects forecological democracy, understood in terms of strong ecologicalmodernization here, depend on historically conditioned relationshipsbetween the state and the environmental movement that fosterthe emergence and persistence over time of such a public sphere.

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Abstract 17334: The Detrimental Effect of Chest Compression Interruptions on Coronary Perfusion Pressure Dynamics

Circulation ◽

10.1161/circ.132.suppl_3.17334 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 132 (suppl_3) ◽

Author(s):

Norman A Paradis ◽

Karen L Moodie ◽

Christopher L Kaufman ◽

Joshua W Lampe

Keyword(s):

Blood Flow ◽

Chest Compression ◽

Detrimental Effect ◽

Perfusion Pressure ◽

Vena Cava ◽

Coronary Perfusion Pressure ◽

Right Atrial ◽

Coronary Perfusion ◽

Chest Compressions ◽

Over Time

Introduction: Guidelines for treatment of cardiac arrest recommend minimizing interruptions in chest compressions based on research indicating that interruptions compromise coronary perfusion pressure (CPP) and blood flow and reducing the likelihood of successful defibrillation. We investigated the dynamics of CPP before, during, and after compression interruptions and how they change over time. Methods: CPR was performed on domestic swine (~30 Kg) using standard physiological monitoring. Blood flow was measured in the abdominal aorta (AAo), the inferior vena cava, the right common carotid and external jugular. Ventricular fibrillation (VF) was electrically induced. Mechanical chest compressions (CC) were started after four minutes of VF. CC were delivered at a rate of 100 compressions per minute (cpm) and at a depth of 2” for a total of 12 min. CPP was calculated as the difference between aortic and right atrial pressure at end-diastole per Utstein guidelines. CPP was determined for 5 compressions prior to the interruption, every 2 seconds during the CC interruption, and for 7 compressions after the interruption. Per protocol, 12 interruptions occurred at randomized time points. Results: Across 12 minutes of CPR, averaged CPP prior to interruption was significantly greater than the averaged CPP after the interruption (22.4±1.0 vs. 15.5±0.73 mmHg). As CPR continued throughout the 12 minutes, CPP during compressions decreased (First 6 min = 24.1±1.4 vs. Last 6 min = 20.1±1.3 mmHg, p=0.05), but the effect of interruptions remained constant resulting in a 20% drop in CPP for every 2 seconds irrespective of the prior CPP. The increase (slope) of CPP after resumption of compressions was significantly reduced over time (First 6 min = 1.47±0.18 vs. Last 6 min = 0.82±0.13 mmHg/compression). Conclusions: Chest compression interruptions have a detrimental effect on coronary perfusion and blood flow. The magnitude of this effect increases over time as a resuscitation effort continues. These data confirm the importance of providing uninterrupted CPR particularly in long duration resuscitations.

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Reconsidering institutions

Reconsidering Policy ◽

10.1332/policypress/9781447333111.003.0003 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 33-54

Author(s):

Kate Crowley ◽

Jenny Stewart ◽

Adrian Kay ◽

Brian W. Head

Keyword(s):

Public Policy ◽

Problem Solving ◽

Institutional Theory ◽

Policy Making ◽

New Institutionalism ◽

Policy Network ◽

Complex Landscape ◽

Emergent Networks ◽

Over Time

Although institutions are central to the study of public policy, the focus upon them has shifted over time. This chapter is concerned with the role of institutions in problem solving and the utility of an evolving institutional theory that has significantly fragmented. It argues that the rise of new institutionalism in particular is symptomatic of the growing complexity in problems and policy making. We review the complex landscape of institutional theory, we reconsider institutions in the context of emergent networks and systems in the governance era, and we reflect upon institutions and the notion of policy shaping in contemporary times. We find that network institutionalism, which draws upon policy network and community approaches, has a particular utility for depicting and explaining complex policy.

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Double Jeopardy: How Refugees Fare in One European Labor Market

IZA Journal of Development and Migration ◽

10.2478/izajodm-2019-0008 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Dries Lens ◽

Ive Marx ◽

Sunčica Vujić

Keyword(s):

Labor Market ◽

Market Integration ◽

Market Access ◽

Labor Migrants ◽

Long Run ◽

Employment Rates ◽

Labor Market Access ◽

First Job ◽

Work Histories ◽

Longitudinal Dataset

AbstractThis paper examines the labor market trajectories of refugees who arrived in Belgium between 1999 and 2009. Belgium offers a relatively easy formal labor market access to refugees and other types of migrants but they face many other barriers in this strongly regulated and institutionalized labor market. Based on a longitudinal dataset that links respondents’ information from the Belgian Labor Force Survey with comprehensive social security data on their work histories, we estimate discrete-time hazard models to analyze refugees’ entry into and exit out of the first employment spell, contrasting their outcomes with family and labor migrants of the same arrival cohort. The analysis shows that refugees take significantly longer to enter their first employment spell as compared with other migrant groups. They also run a greater risk of exiting out of their first employment spell (back) into social assistance and into unemployment. The low employment rates of refugees are thus not only due to a slow integration process upon arrival, but also reflect a disproportional risk of exiting the labor market after a period in work. Our findings indicate that helping refugees into a first job is not sufficient to ensure labor market participation in the long run, because these jobs may be short-lived. Instead, our results provide clear arguments in favor of policies that support sustainable labor market integration.

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Evolution of Cultural Identity Terms in Lay and Academic Sources: Implications for Research and Public Policy

10.31234/osf.io/g5ht9 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Roxanne Moadel-Attie ◽

Sheri R. Levy ◽

Bonita London ◽

Rami Al-Rfou

Keyword(s):

Public Policy ◽

Social Identity ◽

Cultural Identity ◽

Time Lag ◽

Computational Techniques ◽

Psychosocial Experiences ◽

The Social ◽

Usage Patterns ◽

Google Books ◽

Over Time

Increasingly, individuals identify as bicultural and multicultural, yet are sometimes externally misclassified, contributing to experiences of invisibility within U.S. society. Using computational techniques, we examined the transmission of cultural identity terms through time, providing some evidence for the changing representation of social identity. We examined the usage patterns of cultural identity terms with the prefixes (mono-, bi-, multi-), modifying the social identity terms: culture, ethnicity, and race (e.g., comparing monocultural, monoethnic and monoracial). For bicultural and multicultural terms, those with -racial suffixes were the earliest used terms, while those with -cultural and -ethnic suffixes gained more popularity recently. We examined the evolution of the higher frequency social identity terms in lay sources (NY Times, Reddit), and found that interracial and multicultural were the most popular over time, peaking recently. We examined the potential time lag in the sequence of identity terms amongst academic (PsycINFO, NIH and NSF Databases), lay (NY Times) and mixed sources (Google Books N-Grams), supporting our hypothesis that newer terms (e.g., multicultural) are first used and gain prevalence in lay sources, then mixed sources, and eventually academic sources. The implications of these findings for research, public policy and psychosocial experiences of individuals are discussed.

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