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Can refugees improve native children’s health?: Evidence from Turkey

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  • Cansu Oymak

    (Lancaster University, Economics Department, United Kingdom)

  • Jean-François Maystadt

    (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES))

Abstract

Following the most dramatic migration episode of the 21st century, Turkey hosted the largest number of Syrian refugees in the world. This paper assesses the impact of the arrival of Syrian refugees on the Turkish children’s health, with a focus on height – a standard nutritional outcome. Accounting for the endogenous choice of immigrant location, our results show that Turkish children residing in provinces with a large share of refugees exhibit a significant improvement in their height as compared to those living in provinces with less refugees. Against other potential channels, a refugee-induced increase in maternal unemployment and the associated increase in maternal care seem to explain the observed positive effect on children’s health.

Suggested Citation

  • Cansu Oymak & Jean-François Maystadt, 2023. "Can refugees improve native children’s health?: Evidence from Turkey," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2023017, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    • Handle: RePEc:ctl:louvir:2023017
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    File URL: https://sites.uclouvain.be/econ/DP/IRES/2023017.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Mustafa Özer & Jan Fidrmuc, 2024. "Does Immigration Affect the Natives’ Mental Health? Causal Evidence from Forced Syrian Migration to Turkey," CESifo Working Paper Series 11399, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    refugees; child health; anthropometric measures; labor market outcomes;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development

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