The forces of path dependence: Haiti's refugee camps, 1937–2009

Refugee camps are sudden, spontaneous population centers that can persist for years. Their persistence provides an opportunity to learn about the forces of path dependence. I argue that residents stay because the camps create local amenities. I examine this question using refugee camps established in Haiti after a 1937 massacre in the Dominican Republic. Despite the residents’ freedom to migrate, the camps evolved into persistent settlements where the refugees’ descendants resided 70 years later. I show that these camps gave residents access to public land with incomplete rights and to social networks that help with informal insurance. While residents 70 years later have slightly lower levels of literacy, they are not significantly disadvantaged on other margins. I interpret these results as evidence of path dependence driven by amenities rather than local productivity advantages.