Does One Municipality Fit All?The Employment of Refugees in Norway Across Municipalities of Different Centrality and Size

Refugees coming to Norway are assigned to a municipality where they start their integration process. These municipalities offer very different contexts for refugees’ access to employment. Using rich register data, we study how the employment of a refugee varies by both the centrality and population size of the municipality to which he/she is assigned, conditional on existing local labor market conditions and the share of non-Western immigrants. Results show that refugees assigned to the least central municipalities are most likely to be employed the first years after arrival. However, one municipality type does not fit all: Population size matters more for men than it does for women, and there is persistent disadvantage for low-educated men assigned to large municipalities. For women, a high share of non-Western immigrants correlates with lower long-term employment. Municipality context seems to matter the least for highly educated refugees of both genders.