- Library Home /
- Search Collections /
- Open Collections /
- Browse Collections /
- UBC Faculty Research and Publications /
- Reexamining the Effect of Refugees on Civil Conflict...
Open Collections
UBC Faculty Research and Publications
Reexamining the Effect of Refugees on Civil Conflict : A Global Subnational Analysis Zhou, Yany-Yang; Shaver, Andrew
Abstract
A large literature suggests that the presence of refugees is associated with greater risk of conflict. We argue that the positive effects of hosting refugees on local conditions have been overlooked. Using global data from 1990 to 2018 on locations of refugee communities and civil conflict at the subnational level, we find no evidence that hosting refugees increases the likelihood of new conflict, prolongs existing conflict, or raises the number of violent events or casualties. Furthermore, we explore conditions where provinces are likely to experience substantively large decreases in conflict risk due to increased development. Analysis examining nighttime lights as a measure of development, coupled with expert interviews, support our claim. To address the possibility of selection bias, we use placebo tests and matching. Our research challenges assertions that refugees are security risks. Instead, we show that in many cases, hosting refugees can encourage local development and even conflict reduction.
Item Metadata
| Title |
Reexamining the Effect of Refugees on Civil Conflict : A Global Subnational Analysis
|
| Creator | |
| Date Issued |
2021-06-28
|
| Description |
A large literature suggests that the presence of refugees is associated with greater risk of conflict. We argue that the positive effects of hosting refugees on local conditions have been overlooked. Using global data from 1990 to 2018 on locations of refugee communities and civil conflict at the subnational level, we find no evidence that hosting refugees increases the likelihood of new conflict, prolongs existing conflict, or raises the number of violent events or casualties. Furthermore, we explore conditions where provinces are likely to experience substantively large decreases in conflict risk due to increased development. Analysis examining nighttime lights as a measure of development, coupled with expert interviews, support our claim. To address the possibility of selection bias, we use placebo tests and matching. Our research challenges assertions that refugees are security risks. Instead, we show that in many cases, hosting refugees can encourage local development and even conflict reduction.
|
| Genre | |
| Type | |
| Language |
eng
|
| Notes |
Open access funding provided by the UBC Open Access Fund for Humanities and Social Sciences Research.
|
| Date Available |
2023-05-31
|
| Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
|
| Rights |
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
|
| DOI |
10.14288/1.0432783
|
| URI | |
| Affiliation | |
| Citation |
Zhou, Yang-Yang, and Andrew Shaver. "Reexamining the Effect of Refugees on Civil Conflict: A Global Subnational Analysis." The American Political Science Review, vol. 115, no. 4, 2021, pp. 1175-1196.
|
| Publisher DOI |
10.1017/S0003055421000502
|
| Peer Review Status |
Reviewed
|
| Scholarly Level |
Faculty
|
| Rights URI | |
| Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
|
Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International