Migration Shocks and Housing:
Evidence from the Syrian Refugee Crisis in Jordan

Project partners: Ibrahim Alhawarin (Al-Hussein bin Talal University, Jordan), Ragui Assaad (University of Minnesota and IZA), Ahmed Elsayed (IZA)

This research project investigates the impact of migration shocks on housing conditions and rental prices for local population. The identification comes from the regional variation in the large influx of Syrian refugees to Jordan in the wake of the Syrian conflict which started in 2011. Combining detailed household-level surveys with information on where Syrian refugees are concentrated, we employ a difference-in-difference approach and show that the influx had negative impacts on housing quality and increased rents paid by local households. Residential mobility also increased in response to the flow of refugees, and this could have acted as a channel through which housing quality decreased. The effects are more pronounced among poorer and less-educated households, those who are arguably in competition with refugees for housing.