News Finding: "The employment gains that we're projecting are quite substantial, and these are gains that could be achieved with almost no additional cost to the governments or resettlement agencies," adds Kirk Bansak, a lead author of the study and a political science PhD student at Stanford.
Paper Finding: Our approach led to gains of roughly 40 to 70%, on average, in refugees' employment outcomes relative to current assignment practices.
News Context: After all, having more refugees employed can also ease the financial burden on the Swiss government, cantons, and municipalities." "The employment gains that we're projecting are quite substantial, and these are gains that could be achieved with almost no additional cost to the governments or resettlement agencies," adds Kirk Bansak, a lead author of the study and a political science PhD student at Stanford. "By improving an existing process using existing data, our algorithm avoids many of the financial and administrative hurdles that can often impede other policy innovations."
Paper Context: For the algorithm to obtain reliable predictions, it is important that the historical assignment process not be determined by unobserved refugee characteristics. Our approach led to gains of roughly 40 to 70%, on average, in refugees' employment outcomes relative to current assignment practices. This approach can provide governments with a practical and cost-efficient policy tool that can be immediately implemented within existing institutional structures.