Refugee influx and school enrollment among native youths in Jordan

Abstract

I investigate the impact of the inflow of Syrian refugees to Jordan on school enrollment rates of 16–21-year-old Jordanians. Using an instrumented difference-in-differences identification strategy that utilizes the variation in the share of refugees across time and space, I show that the refugee influx resulted in a decline in school enrollment, primarily among males and youths with less educated parents. Next, I show that the effect would have been larger in the absence of post-influx investments in educational infrastructure in the most impacted areas. Finally, I show an increase in employment among Jordanian youths, pointing to a potential labor market mechanism for the estimated impact.