In this article, we analyze individual factors and situational conditions under which immigrants are more or less likely to invest in host country-specific human capital. Theoretically, we root our expectations in a strand of the immigrant human capital investment model combined with a basic model of educational decisions. Using a choice experiment, we simulate a decision process among refugees in Germany and examine the determinants of investment preferences into host country-specific credentials, such as vocational education, as an alternative to an immediately available job offer. The choice experiment was introduced in the IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees, a representative longitudinal survey of recently arrived refugees in Germany. We find that refugees’ intentions of investing in vocational education are guided by the transferability of foreign human capital, the time horizon to reap investments, and rational cost–benefit calculations. The probability of success is influential on its own but also bolsters the relevance of costs and benefits in educational choices.

在本文中，我们分析了个体因素或情况条件，在这些条件下，移民或多或少地有可能在东道国特定的人力资本上进行投资。从理论上讲，我们的期望根植于移民人力资本投资模型与教育决策的基本模型的结合中。通过选择实验，我们模拟了德国难民中的决策过程，并将投资偏好的决定因素纳入特定于东道国的资格证书中，例如职业教育，以替代立即提供的工作机会。选择实验是在IAB-BAMF-SOEP难民调查中引入的，该调查是对德国最近抵达的难民的代表性纵向调查。我们发现，难民投资职业教育的意图受到外国人力资本的可转移性，获得投资的时间范围以及合理的成本效益计算的指导。成功的可能性本身具有影响力，但也支持成本和收益在教育选择中的相关性。