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Is It Merely a Labor Supply Shock? Impacts of Syrian Migrants on Local Economies in Turkey

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  • Doruk Cengiz
  • Hasan Tekgüç

Abstract

The authors use the occurrence of a large and geographically varying inflow of more than 2.5 million Syrian migrants to Turkey between 2012 and 2015 to study the effect of migration on local economies. They do not find adverse employment or wage effects for native-born Turkish workers overall or for those without a high school degree. These results are robust to a range of strategies to construct reliable control groups. To explain the findings, the authors document the importance of three migration-induced demand channels: the complementarity between native and migrant labor, housing demand, and increased entrepreneurial activities.

Suggested Citation

  • Doruk Cengiz & Hasan Tekgüç, 2022. "Is It Merely a Labor Supply Shock? Impacts of Syrian Migrants on Local Economies in Turkey," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 75(3), pages 741-768, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:75:y:2022:i:3:p:741-768
    DOI: 10.1177/0019793920978365
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Michael A Clemens, 2022. "The economic and fiscal effects on the United States from reduced numbers of refugees and asylum seekers [Refugees without Assistance: English-language Attainment and Economic Outcomes in the Early," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 38(3), pages 449-486.
    2. Carlo Lombardo & Julián Martinez-Correa & Leonardo Peñaloza-Pacheco & Leonardo Gasparini, 2022. "The distributional effect of a migratory exodus in a developing country: the role of downgrading and regularization," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4573, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    3. Akgündüz, Yusuf Emre & Aydemir, Abdurrahman B. & Cilasun, Seyit Mümin & Kirdar, Murat Güray, 2024. "Propagation of Immigration Shocks through Firm-to-Firm Trade Networks," IZA Discussion Papers 16770, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Matt Buehler & Kristin E. Fabbe & Eleni Kyrkopoulou, 2023. "Surveying the Landscape of Labor Market Threat Perceptions from Migration: Evidence from Attitudes toward Sub-Saharan African Migrants in Morocco," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 76(4), pages 748-773, August.
    5. Emine Kübra Usta, 2022. "Effects of Refugee Inflow on the Voting Behavior of Natives: Application of Mobile Phone Data [Local Governance Quality and the Environmental Cost of Forced Migration]," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo, vol. 68(3), pages 219-252.

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