Over the last decade, there has been a growing trend of European nations with fertility rates below replacement levels, top-heavy population age structures, and, in turn, widespread natural population decrease. Meanwhile, the turmoil taking place in Syria has led leaders of nations around the world to host fleeing refugees. Many in the media claim these two components are connected-that is, those nations losing population seek refugees to resolve their crises. This article empirically tests whether the natural population change in thirty-three European nations is a significant predictor of the number of refugees the nation resettles. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2017.

Europe Political theory Refugees Immigration Civil war

immigration policy resettlement policy political theory population decline refugee fertility nation state civil war Europe Syrian Arab Republic