Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/318540 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
IRENE Working Paper No. 25-05
Publisher: 
University of Neuchâtel, Institute of Economic Research (IRENE), Neuchâtel
Abstract: 
We exploit the 1990-2000 inflow of Yugoslav refugees to Geneva to examine two understudied yet policy-relevant integration mechanisms for refugee pupils: language support classes, provided prior to integration into regular classes, and sorting based on academic ability within regular classes. We find that a higher share of refugees in language support classes is associated with a lower probability of grade repetition for lowerachieving immigrant pupils of the same grade and school, but a higher probability for native pupils. Additionally, we find that grouping refugees with incumbents of similar academic ability improves the educational performance of higher-achieving incumbents and lower-achieving immigrants, while negatively affecting lower-achieving natives. Our findings offer novel insights into the trade-offs of refugee integration policies, emphasizing the need to balance support for refugee pupils with minimizing potential adverse effects on incumbent pupils.
Subjects: 
Education
Refugees
Incumbent pupils
Peer effects
JEL: 
H75
F22
I21
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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