How Mass Immigration Affects Countries with Weak Economic Institutions: A Natural Experiment in Jordan

Nowrasteh, Alex; Forrester, Andrew; Blondin, Cole

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3149543

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…My findings support the conclusions of the emerging scholarship on how immigrants affect institutions in the receiving states. Researchers have found that immigrants do not weaken and may even improve the host countries’ institutional environments (Clemens and Pritchett 2016; Padilla and Cachanosky 2018; Pavlik, Padilla, and Powell 2018), including by lobbying and voting for better economic policy (Clark et al 2015; Nowrasteh, Forrester, and Blondin 2018; Powell, Clark, and Nowrasteh 2017) or by increasing the natives’ investments in compulsory schooling and other nation-building tools (Bandiera et al 2018). I propose that in addition to these channels, migrants who stem from different institutional backgrounds are more likely to rely on host-country institutions, which act as a common denominator in culturally heterogeneous settings.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity, Institutions, and Economic Outcomes: Post-WWII Displacement in Poland

Charnysh

2019

Am Polit Sci Rev

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How does an increase in cultural diversity affect state–society interactions? Do institutional differences between heterogeneous and homogeneous communities influence economic activity? I argue that heterogeneity not only impedes informal cooperation but also increases demand for third-party enforcement provided by the state. Over time, the greater willingness of heterogeneous communities to engage with state institutions facilitates the accumulation of state capacity and, in common-interest states, promotes private economic activity. I test this argument using original data on post-WWII population transfers in Poland. I find that homogeneous migrant communities were initially more successful in providing local public goods through informal enforcement, while heterogeneous migrant communities relied on the state for the provision of public goods. Economically similar during state socialism, heterogeneous communities collected higher tax revenues and registered higher incomes and entrepreneurship rates following the transition to the market. These findings challenge the predominant view of diversity as harmful to economic development.

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