Working Paper
Refugees’ Self-selection into Europe: Who Migrates Where?
Cevat Giray Aksoy, Panu Poutvaara
ifo Institute, Munich, 2019
ifo Working Paper No. 289
ifo Institute, Munich, 2019
ifo Working Paper No. 289
![](https://www.ifo.de/DocImg/wp-2019-289-aksoy-poutvaara-refugees-self-selection.jpg?c=1689236865)
About 1.4 million refugees and irregular migrants arrived in Europe in 2015 and 2016. We model how refugees and irregular migrants are self-selected. Using unique datasets from the International Organization for Migration and Gallup World Polls, we provide the first large-scale evidence on reasons to emigrate, and the self-selection and sorting of refugees and irregular migrants for multiple origin and destination countries. Refugees and female irregular migrants are positively self-selected with respect to education, while male irregular migrants are not. We also analyze how border controls affect destination country choice.
Schlagwörter: Refugees, self-selection, human capital, predicted income
JEL Klassifikation: J150, J240, O150