Winners and Losers among a Refugee-Hosting Population

2014/05/27 by Jean-François Maystadt, Philip Verwimp · 224 citations
Social Sciences · #Aggregate (composite) #Aggregate data #Computer security #Demographic economics #Demography #Development economics #Distribution (mathematics) #Econometrics #Economics #Exploit #Forced migration #Geography #Immigration #Mass migration #Migration and Labor Dynamics #Migration, Refugees, and Integration #Panel data #Population #Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare #Refugee #Socioeconomics #Sociology #Statistics #Tanzania #Welfare

paper · doi:10.1086/676458

published in Economic Development and Cultural Change 62(4), 769-809 (University of Chicago Press)

openalex publication_date 2014/05/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23

Abstract

The impact of a sudden, mass influx of forced migrants on the hosting economy is understudied and not well understood. Using a household panel data set for the Kagera region in Tanzania, we test the impact of the mass refugee presence on the welfare of the local population. Our identification strategy exploits variations in the timing of arrival as well as the spatial distribution of Rwandese and Burundi refugees. We find a positive and aggregate effect, but households are affected differently depending on their main initial occupation.

Citations

• Why Are the Unemployed So Unhappy?Evidence from Panel Data

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