Do Integration Courses Influence Refugees’ Integration Trajectories? Evidence from Norway

Many European countries have implemented mandatory integration courses for refugees. While evaluations suggest that these programs can improve economic outcomes, less is known about their effectiveness in promoting social and political integration over the long run. We focus on the Norwegian Introductory Program, an intensive intervention that requires two years of full-time coursework. To identify the causal effect of the program, we leverage quasi-random variation in refugees’ arrival dates during a staggered rollout period. Assessing outcomes over a 15-year period, we find that the program has a positive effect on short-term economic outcomes but little observable impact on political or social integration, as measured via administrative data on citizenship, electoral turnout, intermarriage, and residential patterns. We find similar null effects when examining a variety of political and social attitudes. Viewed together, these results suggest that mandatory coursework may not be an effective means of influencing refugees’ long-term integration trajectories.