“Immigrants from low-income countries and their descendants make up an increasing share of the Danish population. As most other Western countries, Denmark will face labour shortage due to demographic changes in the population. Long-term integration of immigrants from low-income countries is part of the solution. Yet, there is extremely limited research on the impact of local amenities such as job opportunities and access to host-country language training on long-term integration of immigrants,” Professor of Economics Anna Piil Damm explains.

She has now received a DKK 8 million grant from the Rockwool Foundation to examine this important topic in a joint endeavour with Marie Schultz-Nielsen, senior researcher at the Rockwool Foundation Research Unit. Postdoc Trine Skriver Høholt Andersen and Assistant Professor Maria Koch Gregersen also from the Department of Economics and Business Economics are participants of the project.

The main aim of Anna Piil Damm’s new project – “Local Amenities and Long-Term Integration of Immigrants” – is to determine how local amenities such as ethnic network, labour market conditions and access to education affect immigrants’ long-term integration. She will focus on two measures of long-term integration: family formation and transition from temporary to permanent residency.

Anna Piil Damm expects that the achieved knowledge can be used to guide policy makers on the design of integration policies to promote long-term cultural integration and economic assimilation of immigrants.

“I am both grateful, humbled, and excited about the support from the Rockwool Foundation for this research project,” Anna Piil Damm says about receiving the grant and continues:

“I am looking forward to investigating the importance of local amenities for long-term integration of immigrants together with my excellent colleagues and Marie Schultz-Nielsen, senior researcher at the Rockwool Foundation Research Unit.”

Further info

• More about Anna Piil Damm and her research https://www.au.dk/en/apd@econ.au.dk