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ResearchSeptember 19, 2018

How xenophobic violence impairs the integration of immigrants

Significant impact on life satisfaction and language acquisition

© iStockphoto.com/Manuel-F-O

Integration of immigrants is a two-way process involving immigrants and the host country society. An underexplored question is how events of xenophobic violence in the host country affect the integration of immigrants.

For this purpose, a new IZA discussion paper by Max Steinhardt exploits a unique series of anti-immigrant attacks in the early 1990s in West Germany. Using a difference-in-differences matching strategy, he finds that macro exposure to xenophobic violence has an impact on several dimensions of socio-economic integration of immigrants.

In particular, it reduces subjective well-being and increases return intentions, while it reduces investment in German language skills among those staying in Germany. From a policy perspective, this paper shows that anti-immigrant violence can have indirect costs by impairing the integration of those immigrants who belong to the target group of xenophobic attacks.

Read a more detailed summary in German.

Featured Paper:

IZA Discussion Paper No. 11781 The Impact of Xenophobic Violence on the Integration of Immigrants Max F. Steinhardt

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