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  3. American Economic Review
  4. May 2017
  5. Asylum Applications and Migration Flows

Asylum Applications and Migration Flows

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Abstract

We discuss an underutilized dataset to examine the causes of migration. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees publishes annual binational asylum applications and the resulting decisions. Asylum is granted to protect individuals from persecution. They are a small part of overall migration patterns: one-tenth of overall migration flows into OECD countries. The European Union receives the largest share of asylum applicants and has a low acceptance rate, but the rate increases when source countries have positive deviations from historic trends. Countries outside the EU and OECD receive almost all of the applications from neighbors with a contiguous land border.

Citation

Missirian, Anouch, and Wolfram Schlenker. 2017. "Asylum Applications and Migration Flows." American Economic Review, 107 (5): 436-40. DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20171051

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • F22 International Migration
  • J11 Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
  • J18 Demographic Economics: Public Policy