Community Sponsorship for Refugee Integration: A Randomized Evaluation

Last registered on April 25, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Community Sponsorship for Refugee Integration: A Randomized Evaluation
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013394
Initial registration date
April 17, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
April 25, 2024, 11:47 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Akib Khan
Affiliation
Uppsala University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Mounir Karadja
PI Affiliation
Uppsala University
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Olle Hammar
PI Affiliation
Linnaeus University
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Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2023-05-01
End date
2026-12-31
Keywords
Behavior, Labor, Welfare
Additional Keywords
Refugees, Integration
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We use an RCT to evaluate the UN refugee-agency UNHCR’s Community Sponsorship (CS) model in Sweden. The CS model matches newly arrived refugees with local contacts from the host municipality in order to improve language skills, cultural exchange, and new social networks. We have partnered with several municipalities that work closely with the local CSOs to create these matches. Our study will be the first randomized evaluation of this popular program, which has helped resettle hundreds of thousands of refugees worldwide. As such, this project will contribute to the broad research and societal discussion on integration by studying an innovative and scalable intervention. We evaluate the intervention based on its effects on social and economic integration, as well as values, health, and well-being.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Hammar, Olle, Mounir Karadja and Akib Khan. 2024. "Community Sponsorship for Refugee Integration: A Randomized Evaluation." AEA RCT Registry. April 25. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13394-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The Community Sponsorship model matches newly arrived refugees with local contacts from the host municipality in order to improve language skills, cultural exchange, and new social networks. We have partnered with several municipalities that work closely with the
local Civil Society Organizations to create these matches.
Intervention Start Date
2023-05-01
Intervention End Date
2025-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Composite indices in the following domains: social network, social inclusion, labor market, housing market, and cultural assimilation.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The study employs a “randomized waiting list” design, which works as follows. First, we create a waiting list with a randomly assigned queue position for each newly arrived refugee household in a given municipality. The municipalities then match these households with established Swedish contacts, following the order of the waiting list. Those who get offered a match are designated as the treatment group whereas those that have not been offered a place at the end of the project constitute the control group. Due to the randomized waiting list, we can estimate the causal effects of the program on refugees’ integration outcomes (De Chaisemartin and Behagel, 2020). Using randomized waiting lists is justified as municipalities do not have the resources to match all refugees who have arrived in recent years. A random selection of who is offered participation, and in what order, is therefore considered fair.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization by a computer program
Randomization Unit
Household
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
500
Sample size: planned number of observations
750
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
250
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Swedish Ethical Review Authority
IRB Approval Date
2023-04-24
IRB Approval Number
2023-01654-01-401724
Analysis Plan