Gains from Variety: Refugee-Host Interactions in Uganda

Arbeitspapier

Refugees are mainly hosted in low-income countries, where they often remain for a long time. Therefore, it is important to assess how they integrate with the local economy and to what extent their presence can contribute to the transition to a more dynamic economic environment. Proximity between refugees and hosts might improve the welfare of both groups by increasing opportunities for mutually beneficial economic exchanges. In particular, welfare gains might be generated through the availability of a greater variety of commodities. In this paper we propose a theoretical model that uses the love for variety to frame the possible benefits arising from the interaction between hosts and refugees facilitated by geographical proximity. We complement the conceptual framework with an empirical analysis that makes use of a unique dataset covering around 80% of the refugee population living in Ugandan settlements and the adjoining host households. The empirical results show that proximity between groups increases the food expenditure and the variety of food consumption of both groups. We also found that exposition to inter-group interactions rises the non-food expenditure, and the probability to run a farm and a non-farm enterprise by refugee households, while hosts are not crowding out from production.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 16434

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation ; Economic Impacts of Globalization: Economic Development ; Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty: General ; International Linkages to Development; Role of International Organizations ; Economywide Country Studies: Africa
• Subject: forced migrations ; love of variety ; inter-group exchange ; distance

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Mariani, Rama Dasi ; Rosati, Furio C. ; Scaramozzino, Pasquale ; D'Errico, Marco
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2023

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/279132
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET