(un)Effectiveness of the Temporary Protection EU Act - A Study with Ukrainian Refugees Job Applicants

Abstract: This is the first study to investigate the effectiveness of the EU temporary protection act (Implementing Decision, 2022/382). We conducted a matched pair correspondence test from March 24 2022 to March 31 2023, in the Czech labour market, where the so-called “Lex Ukraine” allows refugees an immediate free access to the domestic labour market. We sent unsolicited job inquiries for unskilled positions where language, skills, experience are irrelevant, and the ability to interact with native coworkers or customers is not expected. We compare five groups of applicants: Czech natives (reference group), Ukraine refugees from either the Ukrainian or Russian linguistic group, Ukraine and Russian permanent residents. We find a series of relevant results. First, Ukrainian refugees (regardless of their ethnicity) face a lower response rate than Czech applicants, despite the Lex Ukraine, and despite the irrelevance of language barriers and skills. Second, Ukrainian refugees from the Russian linguistic group are treated worse than compatriots from the Ukrainian linguistic group, and the same as Russian permanent residents, suggesting there is ethnic misidentification. Third, the response rate of refugees and of permanent residents decreases over time. Fourth, the response rate of refugees from the Ukrainian linguistic group increases with the increase in the war victims, but at a decreasing rate, suggesting there is collectivist psychic numbing / compassion fading. Fifth, the response rate of refugees with Russian ethnicity is orthogonal to the quantity of war victims, confirming a lower empathy toward them.