Development level of hosting areas and the impact of refugees on natives’ labor market outcomes in Turkey

Abstract

We examine how the impact of refugees on natives’ labor market outcomes varies by the development level of hosting areas, which has important implications for the optimal allocation of refugees across regions and countries. For this purpose, in the context of the largest refugee group in the world in a single country, Syrian refugees in Turkey, we exploit the significant variation in the development level across regions of Turkey, several of which host a substantial number of refugees. We find that the impact of refugees on natives’ labor market outcomes becomes significantly less adverse as the regional development level rises. For instance, the adverse effects of the refugee shock on women's employment and labor force participation observed at the mean level of development vanish at high levels of development. Moreover, while the refugee impact on men's employment is negative for the least developed regions, it is positive for highly developed regions. Our findings imply that developed regions and countries are better positioned to protect their local population from the short-term adverse effects of refugees in the labor market.