Local Governance Quality and the Environmental Cost of Forced Migration

Can high-quality local governance alleviate the environmental impact of large-scale refugee migration? The recent surge in flows has brought additional challenges to governments Europe, Middle East, and certain regions Africa Asia. In this paper, we focus on case Syrian refugees Turkey show that quality plays a critical role mitigating deterioration. Following World Bank’s Local Governance Performance Index, employ text analysis methods construct unique data set from independent audit reports municipalities. Using an instrumental variable strategy, influx worsened outcomes along several dimensions Turkey. Specifically, find deterioration is almost entirely driven by provinces with poor-quality governance. Those fail invest sufficiently waste management practices services response increased settlements. We argue good can smooth out integration process complement efforts central governments.