From Hospitality to Hostility: Impact of the Rohingya Refugee Influx on the Sentiments of Host Communities

B-Tier
Journal: Economic Development & Cultural Change
Year: 2025
Volume: 73
Issue: 3
Pages: 1221 - 1249

Authors (6)

Yuki Higuchi (Sophia University) Keisaku Higashida (Kwansei Gakuin University) Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain (not in RePEc) Mohammad Sujauddin (not in RePEc) Ryo Takahashi (Waseda University) Kenta Tanaka (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

0.335 = (α=2.01 / 6 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

This study aims to examine the effect of the 2017 Rohingya refugee influx on the sentiments of the host communities in Bangladesh, specifically focusing on their hostility toward the refugees. By use of an incentivized joy-of-destruction game involving 1,679 individuals, it was found that 57% of hosts willingly bore personal costs to reduce the amount of donations provided to support the Rohingya, indicating revealed hostility toward the refugee population. The regression analysis indicates that hosts more directly exposed to the refugee camp exhibited a significantly greater reduction in their donations than those less exposed. This reduction was likely due to the damage caused by the influx on the host communities. However, both the exposed and less exposed hosts stated similar negative opinions toward the refugees, suggesting that the experiment effectively elicited genuine hostility toward the refugee outgroup rather than cosmetic expressions of hostility.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:ucp:ecdecc:doi:10.1086/730704
Journal Field
Development
Author Count
6
Added to Database
2026-01-29