Determinants of the economic adaptation of refugees: the case of Midyat Camp

Abstract

In the context of the bottom-up approach to development and poverty reduction, this is the first study to use the Sustainable Livelihood Approach (SLA), with a slight adjustment, to study the economic adaptation of refugees within camps. The object- ive of this study was to explore the factors affecting the economic adaptation of refugees in Midyat Refugee Camp in Turkey. The study used a focus group to help design the questionnaire that was subsequently used to collect data from a sample of 393 households in Midyat Camp. The data was used to estimate a Structural Equations Model. The findings indicated that the most important factors in deter- mining refugees’ economic adaptation are human capital, social capital and institutions.