The Social Integration of Syrian Refugees in Germany

BIG-DATA-BASED ECONOMIC INSIGHTS

Theresa Kuchler, Johannes Stroebel

How successful have efforts been to socially integrate Syrian migrants in Germany? What factors influence social integration? Together with researchers from Harvard and Meta, we address these questions in a new research paper working with de-identified data from Facebook.

Key Messages

  • Syrians in Germany generally have low levels of social integration compared to German natives, measured by the number of Facebook connections/groups and content posted in German
  • Social integration in rural regions is higher than in more urban regions
  • The degree of integration in a region is driven by the local environment, less by the behavior of local natives or the present Syrian population
  • The availability of integration courses causally drives local integration
  • Direct personal contact with locals helps integration
Citation

Theresa Kuchler and Johannes Stroebel: “The Social Integration of Syrian Refugees in Germany,” EconPol Forum 23 (6), CESifo, Munich, 2022.