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Blessing or burden? Impacts of refugees on businesses and the informal economy

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  • Altındağ, Onur
  • Bakış, Ozan
  • Rozo, Sandra V.

Abstract

We study the impact of the sudden arrival of more than three million Syrian refugees in Turkey on Turkish businesses. Our empirical methodology exploits the annual variation in refugee outflows from Syria and geographic concentrations of Arabic-speaking communities in Turkey, which date back to the rupture of the Ottoman Empire after World War I. Using yearly firm census data from 2006 to 2015, we document that refugee inflows induced a positive impact on the intensive and extensive margins of firm production. The effects were stronger for smaller firms and for firms operating in the construction and hospitality sectors. Increased informal activity by firms drove most of these changes.

Suggested Citation

  • Altındağ, Onur & Bakış, Ozan & Rozo, Sandra V., 2020. "Blessing or burden? Impacts of refugees on businesses and the informal economy," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:146:y:2020:i:c:s0304387820300651
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2020.102490
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Refugees; Firms; Informality; Turkey; Migration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J46 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Informal Labor Market
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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