@article{KhalilKohlerTjaden2022,
  author    = {Khalil, Samir and Kohler, Ulrich and Tjaden, Jasper},
  title     = {Is there a rural penalty in language acquisition?},
  series = {Frontiers in sociology},
  volume    = {7},
  journal   = {Frontiers in sociology},
  publisher = {Frontiers Media},
  address   = {Lausanne},
  issn      = {2297-7775},
  doi       = {10.3389/fsoc.2022.841775},
  pages     = {11},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {Emerging evidence has highlighted the important role of local contexts for integration trajectories of asylum seekers and refugees. Germany's policy of randomly allocating asylum seekers across Germany may advantage some and disadvantage others in terms of opportunities for equal participation in society. This study explores the question whether asylum seekers that have been allocated to rural areas experience disadvantages in terms of language acquisition compared to those allocated to urban areas. We derive testable assumptions using a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) which are then tested using large-N survey data (IAB-BAMF-SOEP refugee survey). We find that living in a rural area has no negative total effect on language skills. Further the findings suggest that the "null effect" is the result of two processes which offset each other: while asylum seekers in rural areas have slightly lower access for formal, federally organized language courses, they have more regular exposure to German speakers.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{TjadenSpoerlein2023,
  author    = {Tjaden, Jasper and Sp{\"o}rlein, Christoph},
  title     = {How much do "local policies" matter for refugee integration?},
  series = {International migration review},
  journal   = {International migration review},
  publisher = {Sage Publications},
  address   = {Thousand Oaks},
  issn      = {0197-9183},
  doi       = {10.1177/01979183231205561},
  year      = {2023},
  abstract  = {A growing number of studies have recently postulated a so-called local turn in the study of immigrant and refugee integration policy. A fundamental, yet untested, assumption of this body of research is that local (sub-national) policies and administrations shape how migrants and refugees integrate into society. We develop and apply an analytical model using multilevel modeling techniques based on large-N, longitudinal survey data (N > 9000) with refugees (2012-2018) in a highly decentralized country (Germany) to estimate the scope for local policy effects net of individual-level and state- and district-level characteristics. We show that region and district-level variation in integration outcomes across multiple dimensions (employment, education, language, housing, social) is limited (∼5\%) within 4-8 years after immigration. We find modest variation in policy indicators (∼10\%), which do not appear to directly translate into outcomes. We discuss implications for the study of local policies and the potential for greater convergence between administrative and political science, interested in governance structures and policy variation, and sociology and economics, interested primarily in integration outcomes.},
  language  = {en}
}