The influx of refugees into Germany beginning in the summer of 2015 will generate net economic benefits for German citizens over the succeeding decade.
Responses
© 2025. Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets.
17%
5%
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2%
36%
40%
0%
Responses weighted by each expert's confidence
© 2025. Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets.
0%
2%
46%
52%
0%
Participant |
University |
Vote |
Confidence |
Bio/Vote History |
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![]() Daron Acemoglu |
MIT | Bio/Vote History | ||
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![]() Alberto Alesina |
Harvard | Bio/Vote History | ||
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![]() Joseph Altonji |
Yale | Bio/Vote History | ||
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![]() Alan Auerbach |
Berkeley | Bio/Vote History | ||
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![]() David Autor |
MIT | Bio/Vote History | ||
I'm not aware of any evidence that says that immigration has long-run domestic costs -- though it may impose short-term adjustment costs.
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![]() Katherine Baicker |
University of Chicago | Bio/Vote History | ||
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![]() Abhijit Banerjee |
MIT | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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![]() Marianne Bertrand |
Chicago | Bio/Vote History | ||
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![]() Markus Brunnermeier |
Princeton | Bio/Vote History | ||
Initially, costs > economic benefits. Employment rate shockingly low. Long-run economic implications are uncertain.
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![]() Raj Chetty |
Harvard | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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![]() Judith Chevalier |
Yale | Bio/Vote History | ||
I base my response on the but-for immigration demographics in Germany, but there are many variables.
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![]() David Cutler |
Harvard | Bio/Vote History | ||
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![]() Angus Deaton |
Princeton | Bio/Vote History | ||
Maybe by the end of the decade. The more there are, the longer it will take. All conditional on no political catastrophe in the meantime.
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![]() Darrell Duffie |
Stanford | Bio/Vote History | ||
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![]() Aaron Edlin |
Berkeley | Bio/Vote History | ||
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![]() Barry Eichengreen |
Berkeley | Bio/Vote History | ||
In the long run, benefits (larger labor force and more entrepreneurship) will exceed costs. In the next ten years? Assimilation takes time
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![]() Liran Einav |
Stanford | Bio/Vote History | ||
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![]() Ray Fair |
Yale | Bio/Vote History | ||
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![]() Amy Finkelstein |
MIT | Bio/Vote History | ||
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![]() Pinelopi Goldberg |
Yale | Bio/Vote History | ||
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![]() Austan Goolsbee |
Chicago | Bio/Vote History | ||
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![]() Michael Greenstone |
University of Chicago | Bio/Vote History | ||
These decisions involve much more than economics
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Robert Hall |
Stanford | Bio/Vote History | ||
The proposition is ambiguous whether it refers to the pre-immigration citizens, who may be indifferent, or the immigrants, who gain a lot.
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![]() Oliver Hart |
Harvard | Bio/Vote History | ||
Refugees may provide labor that Germans can benefit from. But welfare transfers from Germans may be required. The net effect is ambiguous.
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![]() Bengt Holmström |
MIT | Bio/Vote History | ||
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![]() Caroline Hoxby |
Stanford | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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![]() Hilary Hoynes |
Berkeley | Bio/Vote History | ||
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![]() Kenneth Judd |
Stanford | Bio/Vote History | ||
The generous German welfare state will be burdened by the costs of absorbing these immigrants. E.g., they do not speak German.
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![]() Steven Kaplan |
Chicago Booth | Bio/Vote History | ||
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![]() Anil Kashyap |
Chicago Booth | Bio/Vote History | ||
low skills and lack of language will make assimilation challenging, but by the end of the decade they will probably be net contributors
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![]() Pete Klenow |
Stanford | Bio/Vote History | ||
![]() Jonathan Levin |
Stanford | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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![]() Eric Maskin |
Harvard | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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![]() William Nordhaus |
Yale | Bio/Vote History | ||
Impacts probably small, it sign unclear on pre-arrival residents.
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![]() Emmanuel Saez |
Berkeley | Bio/Vote History | ||
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![]() Larry Samuelson |
Yale | Bio/Vote History | ||
Europe is aging, and so an influx of young people is potentially valuable, but much depends on how effectively they are integrated.
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![]() José Scheinkman |
Columbia University | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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![]() Richard Schmalensee |
MIT | Bio/Vote History | ||
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![]() Carl Shapiro |
Berkeley | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
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![]() Robert Shimer |
University of Chicago | Bio/Vote History | ||
There are good arguments for admitting refugees, but I haven't seen evidence for this one in this case
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![]() Richard Thaler |
Chicago Booth | Bio/Vote History | ||
Seems most likely outcome.
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![]() Christopher Udry |
Northwestern | Bio/Vote History | ||
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