Sofia Tsitou

Sofia Tsitou, researcher from University of Macedonia will present her paper The Implications of the Population Exchange between Greece and Turkey on Literacy and Employment Rates of the Native Population.

ABSTRACT:
This paper sheds lights on the implications of a major historical event, i.e., the population exchange between Greece and Turkey that was officially agreed in 1923, on the economy of Greece. We construct a very rich dataset from various historical and archival sources; we compile a dataset of 141 provinces for the periods 1920 and 1928. Besides the unique historical dataset, we also exploit this “natural experiment” to implement a differences-in-differences approach. Overall, our
findings suggest that the presence of the refugee population has led to an increase in literacy population for both men and women. Concerning employment, we find that upon the arrival of refugees, the male native population turned away from agriculture to the industry, transportation, stock farming and trade sectors.