In this hybrid research seminar on Tuesday February 26, 2026 at 12:00 pm by Professor David Zuchowski— will present his research titled "Under pressure? Forced migration and public health ".
Abstract:
Large-scale forced migration can put pressure on local public services, especially in developing countries with limited fiscal and institutional capacity. This paper examines how the inflow of Venezuelan refugees affects local healthcare outcomes and municipal public finances within Brazil's decentralised universal healthcare system. We exploit cross-municipality variation in refugee exposure and use distance to the country's only official border crossing with Venezuela as an instrument. Our findings show that municipalities with stronger exposure to the inflow of refugees experience a deterioration in local health outcomes. Furthermore, we find that healthcare spending does not keep pace with the rise in demand in affected municipalities. This reflects the relatively poor health of incoming refugees and congestion in the healthcare system. Municipalities finance the increased healthcare costs using their own revenues, diverting resources from other sectors, particularly education. Our findings emphasize the limitations of decentralized health systems in absorbing large, concentrated migration shocks and highlight the need for stronger national support.
The zoom link to join the seminar online can be found here. This event is open to the public; all those interested in this topic are very welcome to attend. After the presentation there will be time for questions and discussion.
For any queries related to our UNU-MERIT Seminar Series, please contact Lizeth Melissa Molina Alvarez and Karthika Baby Sujatha by sending an email to seminars@merit.unu.edu.