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Scared Straight? Threat and Assimilation of Refugees in Germany

By: Marco Tabellini, Philipp Jaschke and Sulin Sardoschau
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  • | Language:English
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Abstract

This paper examines the role of local hostility in determining refugees' local cultural and economic assimilation. We exploit plausibly exogenous variation in the allocation of refugees across German regions between 2013 and 2018, and assemble a novel data set on values, preferences, and economic outcomes of refugees, and augment it with information on locals. Constructing an index of 'local threat' that combines several proxies for anti-immigrant sentiments, we find that refugees allocated to more hostile regions converge faster to local culture. Yet, despite the faster cultural convergence, refugees assigned to more hostile regions are less likely to be employed and earn lower wages. We interpret these results as evidence for the 'threat hypothesis' of assimilation.

Keywords

Assimilation; Threat Hypothesis; Refugees; Germany

Citation

Tabellini, Marco, Philipp Jaschke, and Sulin Sardoschau. "Scared Straight? Threat and Assimilation of Refugees in Germany." Working Paper, 2021. (Draft coming soon.)

About The Author

Marco E. Tabellini

Business, Government and the International Economy
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