Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Policy in OECD Countries

Refugees and asylum seekers are only a small proportion of the 60 million forcibly displaced persons. But those seeking asylum in the developed world have received much of the attention as western governments have struggled to develop a policy response. An analysis of asylum applications by origin a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American economic review 2016-05, Vol.106 (5), p.441-445
Main Author: Hatton, Timothy J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
60 MILLION REFUGEES
Analysis
Boundaries
Civil liberties
Civil war
Displaced persons
Economic conditions
Economic theory
GDP
Gross Domestic Product
Human rights
International
Per capita
Political asylum
Poverty
Refugees
Studies
Unemployment
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Summary:Refugees and asylum seekers are only a small proportion of the 60 million forcibly displaced persons. But those seeking asylum in the developed world have received much of the attention as western governments have struggled to develop a policy response. An analysis of asylum applications by origin and destination indicates that these flows are largely driven by political terror and human rights abuses. Poor economic conditions in origin countries and tough asylum policies in destination countries matter too. In the light of the findings I suggest that greater coordination among OECD countries could improve the lot of those fleeing from persecution but even this would make only modest inroads into the sum of human misery that displaced people exemplify.
ISSN:0002-8282
1944-7981
DOI:10.1257/aer.p20161062