Attitudes and Policies toward Refugees : Evidence from Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Exclusionary policies, such as limits on refugees’ movement and the right to work, are often justified as reasons to minimize economic and social tensions with host communities. While these policies have a negative effect on refugees’ economic outc...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2022
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099736203242266938/IDU018ed89c00b34c04bb00ad9f04fb78818b0e3 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37290 |
| Summary: | Exclusionary policies, such as limits
on refugees’ movement and the right to work, are often
justified as reasons to minimize economic and social
tensions with host communities. While these policies have a
negative effect on refugees’ economic outcomes, their
ability to mitigate frictions with host communities is
unknown. Inclusionary policies, on the other hand, could
foster mutual gains and positive relations. This paper
builds an extensive dataset of attitudes and economic
outcomes, refugee populations, and policies at the
sub-national level covering 14 years (2005-2018) and most
low- and middle-income countries. Using event study and
difference-in-differences methodologies, it assesses the
effects of the arrival of large waves of refugees and finds
little evidence that large refugee arrivals have a negative
effect on average attitudes or economic outcomes in the
short-term. There are also no significant differences
between places with restrictive and inclusive policies,
including de jure access to the labor market and opening camps. |
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