Proximity to refugee accommodations does not affect locals’ attitudes toward refugees: evidence from Germany

Abstract With the so-called ‘long summer of migration’ 2015, there was an urgent need to accommodate many refugees in Germany. This situation framed as a ‘refugee reception crisis’, and it revealed diametrically opposed stances within German society. Within this debate, anti-refugee sentiment is often explained with placement nearby refugee facilities. Conclusive evidence claim yet missing. Most studies dealing immigration attitudes toward lack appropriate geo-data test assumption. We fill empirical gap by employing novel data on facilities Germany, including exact geo-location, combine geo-locations households participating Socio-Economic Panel. Drawing group threat contact theory, we report solid null effect conclude that does not influence locals’ refugees.