Evaluierung der Westbalkanregelung: Registerdatenanalyse und Betriebsfallstudien

Abstract

"This research report analyses the impact of the so-called 'Western Balkan regulation' (§ 26.2 German Employment Regulation) on the labour market integration of the migrants to whom it applies. The regulation came into effect for migrants employed starting on January 1st, 2016, and remains in effect until December 31st, 2020. The quantitative analysis focuses on the employment trajectories of 36,050 labour migrants who became employed via the Western Balkan regulation in 2016 and 2017. Based on qualitative interviews, we analysed the motives, experiences and strategies of 130 employers, employees, associations and administrative staff. The results show that migrants using the Western Balkan regulation successfully integrated into the German labour market, also when compared to other migrant groups. In particular, we find in the target group both a stable level of employment and extremely low shares of individuals registered as unemployed and receiving unemployment benefits within the observation period. Among the explanations for these results are the high demand for unskilled and skilled employees on the German labour market, employers' recognition of informal qualifications, network-based recruitment strategies and the employees' labour-oriented aspirations to migrate. The results indicate that the employers' selection of workers is sufficient to ensure a successful labour market integration of migrants, even without state recognition of migrants' qualifications. There are isolated cases of abuse by employers, but no evidence of a systematic misuse of the Western Balkan regulation. Restrictive administrative actions and capacity constraints of various state agencies clearly reduce the number of those utilizing the regulation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Brücker, H., Falkenhain, M., Fendel, T., Promberger, M., Raab, M. & Trübswetter, P. (2020): Evaluierung der Westbalkanregelung: Registerdatenanalyse und Betriebsfallstudien. Abschlussbericht. (Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales. Forschungsbericht 544), Berlin, 128 p.