Can Vocational Training Programs Reduce Bias Between Hosts and Refugees?

• In Event: Strategies to Prevent Violence and Extremism: Latest Evidence and New Frontiers

Abstract

The settlement of refugees in new communities increases (perceived) competition for scarce economic and non-economic resources. In addition to directly contributing to tensions, heightened competition increases group-based biases, which can lead to polarisation, discrimination and violence. In this study, we test the impact of a TVET program in Jordan and Lebanon that aims to tackle stresses associated with competition, particularly in the labour market. We implement two one-shot games: the dictator and stag hunt games. Randomising the nationality of a player’s partner, we test the impact of the program on choices towards ingroups and outgroups. We find evidence of a decline in the gap between what people give to their ingroup relative to what they give to the outgroup in the dictator game in both countries but no effect in the stag hunt immediately after the programme. In Lebanon, the programme delivers a corresponding employment effect but not in Jordan. We also examine these effects six months post training in Lebanon. In the longer-term, both employment and behaviour in the dictator game revert to their baseline levels. However, those in the treatment group are more likely to choose the coordination option in the stag hunt game when faced with an outgroup partner than those in the control group. This provides tentative evidence that employment programmes can influence other behavioural domains and reduce societal tensions.

Author

• Rebecca Wolfe, University of Chicago