Are Refugees a Burden? Impacts of Refugee Inflows on Hosts Consumption Expenditures

This paper studies the impacts of the Syrian refugee inflows in the consumption expenditures and income of Jordanian nationals. Our identification strategy exploits the fact that refugees locate disproportionately in regions closer to the three largest refugee camps after the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011. We find that individuals located closer to refugee camps do not see a change in the level of consumption expenditures. However, they experience a change in the composition of their consumption expenditures in favor of larger housing expenditures and lower expenditures on non-durables (including food) and health. We do not find, however, significant differences on the total level of consumption expenditures. In addition, we find supporting evidence suggesting that the higher housing expenditures are accompanied by worse dwelling quality for young individuals working in the informal sector. In addition, individuals more exposed to refugee inflows see higher property and rental income but lower income from self-employment. We find no evidence that the documented changes in consumption expenditures have consequences on health or education access, or children development of Jordanian nationals.