Working Papers
Child Growth and Refugee Status: Evidence From Syrian Migrants in Turkey (joint with Andrew D. Foster & Murat G. Kırdar) (also released as EAF WP No 2208)
Although Turkey hosts the largest population of refugees globally, we know little about their labor-market outcomes at the national level. This study uses the 2018 round of the Turkey Demographic and Health Survey, This study examines disparities in health and nutrition among native and Syrian-refugee children in Turkey. With a view toward understanding the need for targeted programs addressing child well-being among the refugee population, we analyze, in particular, the Turkey Demographic and Health Survey (TDHS). The TDHS is one of few data sets providing representative data on health and nutrition for a large refugee and native population. We find no evidence of a difference in infant or child mortality between refugee children born in Turkey and native children. However, refugee infants born in Turkey have lower birthweight and age-adjusted weight and height than native infants. When we account for a rich set of birth and socioeconomic characteristics that display substantial differences between natives and refugees, the gaps in birthweight and age-adjusted height persist, but the gap in age-adjusted weight disappears. Although refugee infants close the weight gap at the mean over time, the gap at the lower end of the distribution persists. The rich set of covariates we use explains about 35% of the baseline difference in birthweight and more than half of the baseline difference in current height. However, even after that, refugee infants’ average birthweight is 0.17 standard deviations (sd) lower and their current height is 0.23 sd lower. These gaps are even larger for refugee infants born prior to migrating to Turkey, suggesting that remaining deficits reflect conditions in the source country prior to migration rather than deficits in access to maternal and child health services within Turkey.
Publications
The Labor Market Integration of Syrian Refugees in Turkey (World Development, 2023, joint with Murat Güray Kırdar) (previously released as CReaM DP No 38/21)
Although Turkey hosts the largest population of refugees globally, we know little about their labor-market outcomes at the national level. This study uses the 2018 round of the Turkey Demographic and Health Survey, which includes a representative sample of Syrian refugees for the first time, to examine refugee labor-market integration. The findings show a much smaller native–refugee gap in men’s employment in Turkey (favoring natives) than that reported for most developed countries. Moreover, the employment rate for refugee men peaks quite early, one year after arrival, and remains at the same level. By contrast, the employment rate for refugee women is initially lower and does not change much over time. Once demographic and educational differences are accounted for, the native–refugee gap in men’s (women’s) paid employment falls to 4.7 (4.0) percentage points (pp). These small gaps conceal the fact that formal-employment rates are much lower among refugees. Even when covariate differences are accounted for, the formal-employment rate for refugee men is 58 pp lower than the rate for native men. In addition, the smallest native–refugee employment gaps are in manufacturing for men and agriculture for women. The gap is also much smaller in wage employment than in self-employment or unpaid family work. Finally, significant heterogeneity exists across refugee groups. The native–refugee employment gap is wider for older and more-educated groups. Once covariates are accounted for, the gap in men’s employment vanishes for refugees whose mother tongue is Turkish but persists for refugees whose mother tongue is Arabic or Kurdish.
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Development Level of Hosting Areas and the Impact of Refugees on Natives' Labor Market Outcomes in Turkey (European Economic Review, 2022, joint with Doğu Tan Aracı & Murat Güray Kırdar)
(previously released as IZA DP No 14267)
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.