Using unique survey data on subjective expectation regarding the return to language proficiency for Syrian asylum seekers in Germany, this study finds evidence that the decision on language acquisition levels responds to economic incentives. This finding fills a gap in the existing literature on...

Despite the recognition that asylum policies are partly determined by political economy factors in the destination country, there is little empirical evidence on the precise linkages between those political factors and asylum policies. We shed light on this issue by examining the impact of...

The paper is structured around three main contributions. First, it takes advantage of a unique survey on Afghan asylum seekers in Germany to provide novel descriptive insights into asylum seekers' beliefs about their outcomes and the associated intention to overstay. Second, it estimates asylum...