This report by the think tank Migration Policy Institute looks at the application of a tool used by economists—the cost-benefit analysis—in the area of migrant integration. The report aims to improve integration efforts by highlighting another tool for programme evaluation.

Although governments have stepped up investments that aim to help recently arrived refugees find work and settle into their new communities, it is often unclear what types of programmes yield the best results. It may take years or even generations for the full effects of integration initiatives to be felt, yet the limited evaluations that do exist generally focus on a narrow set of short-term, economic outcomes such as employment rates.

The report proposes a new framework for evaluating integration programmes. It outlines how policymakers can use cost-benefit analysis to calculate the broader social value of labour-market integration investments. This type of analysis offers ways to look beyond financial benefits to explore how programs may affect, for example, the second generation as parents build skills and find higher-paid work, which may improve their children’s educational outcomes and lifetime earnings down the road.