Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 60-80 |
| Number of pages | 21 |
| Journal | Adult education quarterly |
| Volume | 73 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 29 Dec 2021 |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 2023 |
Abstract
Language skills are central to refugee integration and the availability of language courses could thus be a limiting factor. We explore how the most important provider of language courses in Germany, adult education centers (VHS), adapted their course supply to the refugee wave of 2015/2016. Our results highlight two channels through which the local environment can affect opportunities for participation in adult learning: First, exploiting the quasi-random allocation of refugees to counties, we causally estimate by how much VHS scaled up their German language course (DAF) supply as a reaction. Moreover, we show that DAF courses were created almost exclusively at the cost of other courses, that is, by crowding out. Second, we uncover heterogeneities in scaling success. VHS with more prior DAF course experience and larger VHS adapted better, which shows the relevance of initial conditions in course offers.
Keywords
- adult education, crowding out, integration, language courses, refugees, regional context
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences(all)
- Education
Sustainable Development Goals
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In: Adult education quarterly, Vol. 73, No. 1, 02.2023, p. 60-80.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Scaling up and Crowding out
T2 - How German Adult Education Centers Adapted Course Offers to Refugee Integration
AU - Thomsen, Stephan L.
AU - Weilage, Insa
N1 - We are grateful to the German Institute for Adult Education (Deutsches Institut für Erwachsenenbildung, DIE) for providing the VHS statistics, as well as to Daniela Imani, Andreas Martin, and an anonymous referee. The study has benefitted from discussion at the research seminar of the Faculty of Economics and Management, Leibniz University Hannover.
PY - 2023/2
Y1 - 2023/2
N2 - Language skills are central to refugee integration and the availability of language courses could thus be a limiting factor. We explore how the most important provider of language courses in Germany, adult education centers (VHS), adapted their course supply to the refugee wave of 2015/2016. Our results highlight two channels through which the local environment can affect opportunities for participation in adult learning: First, exploiting the quasi-random allocation of refugees to counties, we causally estimate by how much VHS scaled up their German language course (DAF) supply as a reaction. Moreover, we show that DAF courses were created almost exclusively at the cost of other courses, that is, by crowding out. Second, we uncover heterogeneities in scaling success. VHS with more prior DAF course experience and larger VHS adapted better, which shows the relevance of initial conditions in course offers.
AB - Language skills are central to refugee integration and the availability of language courses could thus be a limiting factor. We explore how the most important provider of language courses in Germany, adult education centers (VHS), adapted their course supply to the refugee wave of 2015/2016. Our results highlight two channels through which the local environment can affect opportunities for participation in adult learning: First, exploiting the quasi-random allocation of refugees to counties, we causally estimate by how much VHS scaled up their German language course (DAF) supply as a reaction. Moreover, we show that DAF courses were created almost exclusively at the cost of other courses, that is, by crowding out. Second, we uncover heterogeneities in scaling success. VHS with more prior DAF course experience and larger VHS adapted better, which shows the relevance of initial conditions in course offers.
KW - adult education
KW - crowding out
KW - integration
KW - language courses
KW - refugees
KW - regional context
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85122078068&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/07417136211068861
DO - 10.1177/07417136211068861
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85122078068
VL - 73
SP - 60
EP - 80
JO - Adult education quarterly
JF - Adult education quarterly
SN - 0741-7136
IS - 1
ER -