This paper examines the causal effects of the massive Syrian refugee inflow on natives’ health outcomes using data from the Turkish Income and Living Conditions Survey. We address endogeneity issues raised by refugees’ location preferences by implementing a two-stage least squares estimation method using a distance-based instrument. We find that the refugee inflow improved the health of high-skilled and employed males, whereas the effects on low-skilled native males are insignificant. We find no evidence of a significant health effect for females. We also investigate the potential channels through which refugees can affect natives’ health outcomes, and show evidence that the improvements in high-skilled males’ working conditions and reduced probability of finding a job for low-skilled males drive our results.
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