In or Out? Xenophobic Violence and Foreigner Integration. Evidence From 19th Century France

Abstract:

How do foreigners respond to xenophobic violence? Do they move out, leaving their home, or do they buy in, assimilating further? We develop a stylized theoretical framework to explain why exposure to violence can yield both more exits and more assimilation. We use an exogenous spike in xenophobic violence in 19th-century France and fine-grained individual data to provide causal evidence of this dual effect. We also study how foreigners’ response varies with the degree of exposure to violence and their prior level of integration in the host country, highlighting the importance of thinking of foreigners as a heterogeneous group.