新冠肺炎大流行期间在约旦的叙利亚难民及其东道主的找工作和隔离（英）

PublicDisclosureAuthorized PublicDisclosureAuthorized PolicyResearchWorkingPaper10670 JobFindingandSeparationamongSyrianrefugeesinJordanandTheirHostsduringtheCOVID-19Pandemic SarahWahbyRaguiAssaad MiddleEastandNorthAfricaRegionOfficeoftheChiefEconomistJanuary2024 PolicyResearchWorkingPaper10670 Abstract Refugeesfaceimportantbarrierstoparticipationintheformalmarket,whichlocksthemininformalemploy-mentandmakesthemmorevulnerabletoshocks.UsingdatafromJordan,thispapercomparesthejobfindingandseparationratesofSyrianrefugeestothoseoftheirhostsbeforeandaftertheonsetoftheCOVID-19pandemic.The findingsshowthechangeintheseratesovertimeforSyrianstobesimilartothoseoftheirJordanianhostspriortothepandemic,withasignificantdivergenceafterthestartofthepandemic.DistinguishingbetweenSyrianslivingincampsandthoselivinginhostcommunitiesshowsthattheSyriandisadvantagewasentirelyexplainedbylivingincamps. ThispaperisaproductoftheOfficeoftheChiefEconomist,MiddleEastandNorthAfricaRegion.ItispartofalargereffortbytheWorldBanktoprovideopenaccesstoitsresearchandmakeacontributiontodevelopmentpolicydiscussionsaroundtheworld.PolicyResearchWorkingPapersarealsopostedontheWebathttp://www.worldbank.org/prwp.Theauthorsmaybecontactedatwahby001@umn.eduandassaad@umn.edu ThePolicyResearchWorkingPaperSeriesdisseminatesthefindingsofworkinprogresstoencouragetheexchangeofideasaboutdevelopmentissues.Anobjectiveoftheseriesistogetthefindingsoutquickly,evenifthepresentationsarelessthanfullypolished.Thepaperscarrythenamesoftheauthorsandshouldbecitedaccordingly.Thefindings,interpretations,andconclusionsexpressedinthispaperareentirelythoseoftheauthors.TheydonotnecessarilyrepresenttheviewsoftheInternationalBankforReconstructionandDevelopment/WorldBankanditsaffiliatedorganizations,orthoseoftheExecutiveDirectorsoftheWorldBankorthegovernmentstheyrepresent. ProducedbytheResearchSupportTeam JobFindingandSeparationamongSyrianrefugeesinJordanandTheirHostsduringtheCOVID-19Pandemic1 SarahWahby2andRaguiAssaad3 JELcodes:J15,J61 Keywords:refugees,jobseparation,jobfinding,camps,COVID-19 Topics:RefugeesandJobs,LaborMarkets,LaborandEmploymentLawsandRegulations,Coronavirus(COVID-19) Acknowledgements ThisworkwassupportedbytheMENAChiefEconomistOfficeunderthelaborandgenderresearchprograms(TTLs:NellyElmallakhandNazmulChaudhury).WeappreciatethecommentsofparticipantsintheMNACEauthors’workshop,particularlyourdiscussantHai-AnhDang. 1ThispaperisaproductoftheOfficeoftheChiefEconomist,MiddleEastandNorthAfricaregion.ItispartofalargereffortbytheWorldBanktoprovideopenaccesstoitsresearchandmakeacontributiontodevelopmentpolicydiscussionsaroundtheworld.PolicyResearchWorkingPapersarealsopostedontheWebathttp://www.worldbank.org/prwp. 2Correspondingauthor.HumphreySchoolofPublicAffairs,UniversityofMinnesota.Email:wahby001@umn.edu 3HumphreySchoolofPublicAffairs,UniversityofMinnesota.Email:assaad@umn.edu Introduction Refugees,aseconomicactors,arenotinherentlydifferentfrommembersofhostcommunities.Nevertheless,theyfaceadifferentsetofconstraintsandopportunitiesineconomicparticipation(Bettsetal.,2017b).Althoughsocio-economicrightsareofficiallygrantedtorefugeesbythe1951ConventionRelatingtoRefugees,theyareoftenrestrictedbyhostcountries.Hostgovernmentsofdevelopingcountries,whichhost86percentofrefugees(UNHCR,2021a),aretypicallyreluctanttograntsuchrightsinfearofincreasedcompetitionoverlimitedresourceswiththeirowncitizens. Therighttoworkisoneprominentcaseofconflictbetweenrefugeerightsandthepracticesofhostgovernments.Whilethisrightisofficiallyrecognizedinthe1951convention,regulationsinhostcountriesrangefromdenyingtherighttoworkaltogethertorestrictingeligibilityatvaryinglevels(Zetter&Ruaudel,2018).Facingsuchbarrierstoentrytotheformaleconomyalongwithlimitedhumanitariansupport,refugeesturntoinformalemploymentcharacterizedbylackofjobsecurity,socialinsurance,andlowerwages.Refugeesare,therefore,particularlyvulnerabletoshocks(Hoseini&Dideh,2022). WestudythedifferentialemploymentoutcomesofrefugeesandtheJordanianhostcommunitybeforeandduringtheCOVID-19pandemic,focusinginparticularonjobfindingandseparationrates.SyrianrefugeesinJordanfacesubstantialadministrativeandpracticalbarrierstoobtainingworkpermits.Inpractice,theyaremostlyconfinedtospecificsectors,suchasagriculture,constructionandmanufacturing,whereemploymentisprimarilyinformal(Gordon,2019).Accordingly,over90percentofSyrianyouthinJordanworkinregularandirregularinformaljobs(Assaadetal.,2021b).Moreover,SyrianrefugeesinJordanliveprimarilyinurbanhostcommunities,withonly19percentlivinginofficiallyrecognizedrefugeecamps(UNHCR,2022).Refugeeslivinginhostcommunitiesmayexperiencemorefreedomofmovementandlower restrictionsonjobsearch,buttheydonotbenefitfromthesamehumanitarianassistancerefugeesincampsbenefitfrom(Bettsetal.,2017b).WeinvestigatethedeterminantsofthevulnerabilityofSyrianrefugeestotheCOVID-19shockinJordan.Inparticular,weexaminewhetherSyriandisadvantageduringtheshockiscompletelyexplainedbyinstitutionalbarriersreflectedinprecariousjobsandresidencyincamps,oriftheyexperi