Two and a half million Syrian refugees, tasks and capital intensity

Akgündüz, Yusuf Emre and Torun, Huzeyfe (2020) Two and a half million Syrian refugees, tasks and capital intensity. Journal of Development Economics, 145 . ISSN 0304-3878 (Print) 1872-6089 (Online)

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Abstract

We investigate how the rapid increase in the low-skilled labor supply induced by the inflow of 2.5 million Syrian refugees changed the tasks performed by native workers and the capital intensity of firms in Turkey. We use both survey and administrative data to estimate the effects. The results based on the Labor Force Survey suggest that the inflow of refugees increased natives' task complexity, reducing the intensity of manual tasks, and raising the intensity of abstract tasks. This effect is driven by highly educated and young natives. Exploiting the administrative firm data that contains the entirety of firms in the country, we find that manufacturing firms reduced their capital intensity and investments. Reduction in capital intensity and investment is largely driven by smaller sized firms. We conclude that tasks provided by Syrian refugees are substitutes for manual tasks and capital inputs, and complements to more complex tasks.
Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Migration; Refugees; Labor-capital substitution; Skills; Tasks
Divisions: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences > Academic programs > Economics
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Depositing User: Yusuf Emre Akgündüz
Date Deposited: 19 Jul 2020 10:48
Last Modified: 04 Aug 2023 21:49
URI: https://research.sabanciuniv.edu/id/eprint/40034

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