Migration shocks and housing : evidence from the Syrian refugee crisis in Jordan

الملخص EN

This paper investigates the impact of migration shocks on housing conditions and rental prices for locals.

The identification comes from the regional variation in the large influx of Syrian refugees to Jordan in the wake of the Syrian conflict starting in 2011.

We employ a difference in difference approach to evaluate the change in housing conditions and rental prices in areas with relatively higher flows of Syrian refugees compared to areas with relatively lower flows of Syrian refugees.

The paper shows that the share of Syrian refugees seems to have a negative, yet small, impact on housing conditions of locals.

Heterogeneity analyses shows that while poorer household are affected more negatively, richer household experience an improvement in their housing outcomes in response to the share of refugees.

The paper further shows that housing rents significantly increased in the regions closer to Syrian borders.

However, housing quality was more responsive to the crisis in regions that are relatively more distant