The Effect of the Syrian Refugee Crisis on Rental Prices in Lebanon

Abstract: The massive inflow of Syrian refugees in 2011 led to Lebanon becoming the country with the highest density of refugees worldwide. This thesis analyses the effect of the Syrian refugee inflow on rental prices in Lebanon. Data was gathered from four different municipalities in the area of Beirut and Mount Lebanon: Beirut, Bourj Hammoud, Jal-El-Dib and Jounieh. The data provides for the years 2007 to 2015. As the data analysis method, the difference-in-difference regression was employed. The results show strong evidence for an increase between 8-25% of rental prices generated by the inflow of the refugees. The inelastic demand, ´no camp´ policy and pre-existence of refugees in the municipalities are argued to be possible explanations to the large increase.