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Economic Life in Refugee Camps

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  • Alloush, Mohamad
  • Taylor, J. Edward
  • Gupta, Anubhab
  • Rojas Valdes, Ruben Irvin
  • Gonzalez-Estrada, Ernesto

Abstract

We analyze economic life in three Congolese refugee camps in Rwanda and the interactions between refugees and local host-country economies within a 10-km radius around each camp. Refugees in one of the three camps received food aid in kind, while in the other two camps they were given cash via cell phones provided by the UN World Food Programme. We find that refugee economies arise inside each camp, and the structure of these economies reflects the economic context around the camps. Despite undergoing forced migration and often living in destitute conditions, refugees actively interact with host country economies. Interactions with the host country result in a divergence of refugee households’ income from the assistance they receive. A shift from in-kind to cash aid appears to increase refugee welfare while strengthening market linkages between camp and host economies. This finding is potentially important for refugee policies as well as for other types of development assistance, as donors find themselves under pressure to shift from in-kind to cash aid.

Suggested Citation

  • Alloush, Mohamad & Taylor, J. Edward & Gupta, Anubhab & Rojas Valdes, Ruben Irvin & Gonzalez-Estrada, Ernesto, 2017. "Economic Life in Refugee Camps," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 334-347.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:95:y:2017:i:c:p:334-347
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.02.030
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    2. Ray, Manojit & Chakraborty, Basab, 2022. "Impact of demand flexibility and tiered resilience on solar photovoltaic adoption in humanitarian settlements," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 895-912.
    3. Dhahri, Sabrine & Omri, Anis, 2020. "Foreign capital towards SDGs 1 & 2—Ending Poverty and hunger: The role of agricultural production," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 208-221.
    4. Claire MacPherson & Olivier Sterck, 2019. "Humanitarian vs. Development Aid for Refugees: Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design," CSAE Working Paper Series 2019-15, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    5. Aregai Mekonen & Bedemariam Muluberhan, 2020. "Socio-environmental conflicts between the refugee populations and their host communities: The case of Eritrean Refugees in North Western Tigray, Ethiopia," Environmental & Socio-economic Studies, Sciendo, vol. 8(2), pages 54-62, June.
    6. Laura Van Raemdonck, 2019. "Comparison of Four Different Livelihood Programmes for Urban Refugee Women in Durban, South Africa: Insights from the Capability Approach," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 497-519, May.
    7. Craig Loschmann & Özge Bilgili & Melissa Siegel, 2019. "Considering the benefits of hosting refugees: evidence of refugee camps influencing local labour market activity and economic welfare in Rwanda," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 9(1), pages 1-23, December.
    8. Mariani, Rama Dasi & Rosati, Furio C. & Scaramozzino, Pasquale & D'Errico, Marco, 2023. "Gains from Variety: Refugee-Host Interactions in Uganda," IZA Discussion Papers 16434, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. MacPherson, Claire & Sterck, Olivier, 2021. "Empowering refugees through cash and agriculture: A regression discontinuity design," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    10. Carlos Alberto Santamaria-Velasco & Maria del Mar Benavides-Espinosa & Virginia Simón-Moya, 2021. "The refugee entrepreneurship process from/in emerging economies," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 549-570, June.
    11. Delius, Antonia & Sterck, Olivier, 2024. "Cash transfers and micro-enterprise performance: Theory and quasi-experimental evidence from Kenya," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    12. Steven Gronau & Brigitte Ruesink, 2021. "What Makes Me Want You Here? Refugee Integration in a Zambian Settlement Setting," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-19, July.
    13. Özge Bilgili & Sonja Fransen & Craig Loschmann & Melissa Siegel, 2018. "Is the education of local children influenced by living nearby a refugee camp?: Evidence from host communities in Rwanda," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-18, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    14. Bertinelli,Luisito & Comertpay,Rana & Maystadt,Jean-François, 2022. "Refugees, Diversity and Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10052, The World Bank.
    15. Jamal Bouoiyour & Amal Miftah & Refk Selmi, 2019. "The economic contribution of immigration on Europe: Fresh evidence from a “hybrid” quantile regression model," Working Papers hal-02346700, HAL.
    16. Hai-Anh H. Dang & Paolo Verme, 2023. "Estimating poverty for refugees in data-scarce contexts: an application of cross-survey imputation," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(2), pages 653-679, April.
    17. Özge Bilgili & Sonja Fransen & Craig Loschmann & Melissa Siegel, 2018. "Is the education of local children influenced by living nearby a refugee camp? Evidence from host communities in Rwanda," WIDER Working Paper Series 018, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    18. Meyer, Sarah R. & Meyer, Elizabeth & Bangirana, Clare & Mangen, Patrick Onyango & Stark, Lindsay, 2019. "Protection and well-being of adolescent refugees in the context of a humanitarian crisis: Perceptions from South Sudanese refugees in Uganda," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 79-86.
    19. Hounton, S & Abuya Willice O., 2022. "Open-Doors Policy and Economic Contribution of Urban Refugees in Host Countries: Evidence from Benin," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 6(4), pages 318-332, April.
    20. Marco d’Errico & Rama Dasi Mariani & Rebecca Pietrelli & Furio Camillo Rosati, 2022. "Refugee-Host Proximity and Market Creation in Uganda," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(2), pages 213-233, February.
    21. Jonatan A. Lassa & Gisela Emanuela Nappoe & Susilo Budhi Sulistyo, 2022. "Creating an institutional ecosystem for cash transfer programming: Lessons from post-disaster governance in Indonesia," Papers 2202.04811, arXiv.org.
    22. Haithem Zourrig & Kamel El Hedhli, 2023. "Consumption coping strategies and well‐being among refugee consumers," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(1), pages 140-170, January.
    23. Kadigo, Mark Marvin & Maystadt, Jean-Francois, 2023. "How to cope with a refugee population? Evidence from Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    24. José Joaquín Endara, 2020. "Refugee influx and economic activity: evidence from Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4341, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    25. Thomas, P.J.M. & Sandwell, P. & Williamson, S.J. & Harper, P.W., 2021. "A PESTLE analysis of solar home systems in refugee camps in Rwanda," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).

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