Full Citation
Title: The Labor Market Impact of Refugees: Evidence from the U.S. Resettlement Program
Citation Type: Working Paper
Publication Year: 2017
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Abstract: In this paper, we examine the long-term impact of refugees on the U.S. labor market over the period 1980-2010. Drawing upon aggregated individual level administrative data, we exploit the exogenous assignment of refugees across commuting zones within the United States, by focusing on those refugee cases without U.S. ties. The distribution of these refugees depends upon resettlement agencies and is mainly driven by the availability of accommodation and other (for example medical) needs – most importantly, it is independent of the choice of refugees. Nevertheless, we use matching techniques to identify suitable counterfactual observations for those commuting zones that receive a significant number of refugees as a share of the population. Accounting for all of the recent innovations in the literature, we do not find any significant long-term labor market impact of refugees. Our results provide robust causal evidence that there is no adverse long-run impact of refugees on the U.S. labor market.
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Authors: Mayda, Anna Maria; Parsons, Chris; Peri, Giovanni; Wager, Mathis
Series Title: The Office of the Chief Economist (OCE) Working Paper Series
Publication Number: 2017-04
Institution: U.S. Department of State
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Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Other
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