Terrorism and the integration of Muslim immigrants

Abstract

We study the effect that a series of fundamentalist-Islamic terrorist attacks in Europe had on the integration of Muslim immigrants in the Netherlands. Using a difference-in-difference approach we show that shortly after the attacks, Muslim immigrants" perceived integration decreased significantly compared to that of non-Muslim immigrants with no evidence for the existence of a negative trend in the integration of Muslims prior to the attacks. Labour market outcomes of Muslims were not negatively affected by the attacks. However, their geographic segregation increased significantly. We show that while low-skilled Muslims became particularly more geographically segregated, it is the high-skilled Muslims whose perceived integration is affected most negatively due to the attacks. The latter could be explained by their higher expectations on integrating in the host country, whereas the increase in geographic segregation of low-skilled Muslims might have been a buffer that mitigated the effect of terrorism on their perceived integration. We finally show that low perceived integration is associated with the intention to permanently re-migrate to the country of origin.

The deterrent effect of an anti-minaret vote on foreigners’ location choices

“…Instead, foreigners with a high education might be particularly sensitive towards such reservations. They might be more interested in politics and more likely to follow the discussion in the media than their less well educated compatriots (Rudert et al, 2017;Elsayed and De Grip, 2018).…”

“…A notable exemption is the study byElsayed and De Grip (2018) who find that Islamist terrorist attacks worsen attitudes towards Muslims in the Netherlands and go hand in hand with an increase in Muslims' intention to re-migrate. Moreover, Muslims' attitudes towards integration are also negatively affected by the terrorist attacks.…”

Terrorism, immigration and asylum approval

“…4 Cornelissen and Jirjahn (2012), Dávila and Mora (2005), Kaushal et al (2007) document the impacts of Sept. 11, 2001 on labor market outcomes of Arabs and Muslims. 5 Our work also ties in with studies examining the effect of terrorism on changes in ethnic attitudes (Ratcliffe and von Hinke Kessler Scholder (2015)), self-identification among Arab and Islamic Americans (Mason and Matella (2014)) and integration and assimilation (Bisin et al (2008), Elsayed and De Grip (2018), Gould and Klor (2016)).…”

English Language Proficiency and Immigrant Families Annual Earnings and Medical Care Spending in the USA

“…indicate that it is a highly normative concept. As a policy objective, integration implies an assumption about a desirable social order, with a high degree of internal cohesion, making it attractive to policymakers, who aim for stability (Elsayed and De Grip, 2018).…”

“…While it is crucial that immigrants take an active role in the integration process, this is only possible when existing structures are not so rigid to allow it (Duman, 2018). In pluralist democracies, such change should not be perceived as a threat to stability but as part of the flexibility and openness of the society, which is constantly developing, striving for greater equality and more opportunities for all members (Elsayed and De Grip, 2018). In such context, immigrants' health-economic integration/inclusion can be described as a policy goal for governments, to eliminate immigrants' exclusions from the health care market and the labor market of the host country.…”