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Forced Migration and Social Cohesion

Evidence from the 2015/16 Mass Inflow in Germany

Bibliographic Data

ID11911840
AuthorsEmanuele Albarosa, Benjamin Elsner (0000-0001-6343-9393, University College Dublin, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume167
Pages106228-106228
Publication date2023-03-07
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueWorld Development (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0305-750X • E-ISSN: 1873-5991
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106228
OpenAlexW4323350048
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited63

A commonly expressed concern about immigration is that it undermines social cohesion in the receiving country. In this paper, we study the impact of a large and sudden inflow of asylum seekers on several indicators of social cohesion. In 2015/16, over one million asylum seekers from Syria, Afghanistan, and elsewhere arrived in Germany. Anecdotal evidence suggests that this inflow changed the public opinion on hosting asylum seekers, from being highly welcoming to fairly negative within a few months. Using individual- and county-level panel data, we test whether the evidence supports this apparent shift in attitudes. In a difference-in-differences design, we compare the attitudes of individuals in areas with large vs. small local inflows before and after the inflow. In individual survey data, we find mixed evidence of an impact on social cohesion. In a representative sample, we find no evidence that the inflow undermined social cohesion, except for a negative effect on donations to charity. In areas with high vote shares for the populist party AfD, we find that the inflow led to greater anti-immigrant sentiment and a greater concern about crime. We also show that areas with larger increases in the number of asylum seekers experienced a significant increase in anti-immigrant violence, which lasted for about two years before returning to its pre-inflow level. This effect was larger in areas with higher unemployment and greater support for AfD

Cohesion (chemistry · Community cohesion · Demographic economics · Economic growth · Economics · Geography · Immigration · Inflow · Political science · Refugee · Unemployment · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Populism, Right-Wing Movements

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Unique citing works9
Citations per year4,5
Citation span2024 - 2026 (3)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 9
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