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Immigration and Crimes against Natives: The 2015 Refugee Crisis in Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Yue Huang

    (Institute for Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU), Trier University)

  • Michael Kvasnicka

    (Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, RWI, IZA@LISER)

Abstract

During the 2015 refugee crisis, nearly one million refugees arrived in Germany, raising widespread concern that crimes against natives would rise. Using novel county-level data, we study this question empirically in first-difference and 2SLS regressions. Our results do not support the view that Germans were victimized in greater numbers by refugees, as measured by their rate of victimization in crimes with refugee suspects. Our findings are of great policy and public interest, and also of material relevance for the broader literature on immigration and crime, which mostly considers crimes per capita or variants thereof. We show that such aggregate measures may be insufficiently informative about the actual victimization patterns of specific groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Yue Huang & Michael Kvasnicka, 2026. "Immigration and Crimes against Natives: The 2015 Refugee Crisis in Germany," IAAEU Discussion Papers 202603, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    • Handle: RePEc:iaa:dpaper:202603
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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