Publication: Life Out of the Shadows: The Impacts of Regularization Programs on the Lives of Forced Migrants
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2022-02
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2022-02-10
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This paper examines the well-being effects of a regularization program offered to half a million Venezuelan forced migrants in Colombia. It collects data on more than two thousand such migrants and used it to compare the well-being of those who arrived in Colombia before and after the date that defined program eligibility. This date was announced ex post and was generally unknown to the public, and thus enables us to credibly evaluate the program’s impact. The authors find that program beneficiaries experienced large improvements in well-being, including consumption per capita (a gain of 48 percent) and monthly labor income (an increase of 22 percent). These effects stemmed from greater registration rates in the system that assesses vulnerability and awards public transfers (22 pp) and from financial services (44.4 pp).
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“Ibáñez, Ana María; Moya, Andrés; Ortega, María Adelaida; Rozo, Sandra V.; Urbina, Maria José. 2022. Life Out of the Shadows: The Impacts of Regularization Programs on the Lives of Forced Migrants. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9928. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36967 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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