unobservables is arguably less problematic for the distribution of refugees reported in the census of April 1923. At that time, refugees had been in Greece for less than 6 months (since the fire of Smyrna in September 1922), and still hoped to return to their homeland in Turkey. Upon arrival, the main worry of refugees, who were in a state of “utter destitution”, was to find relief and shelter where they could and less so to seek places with better economic opportunities (Kontogiorgi, 2006, pp. 88). The first place of settlement in 1923 was often temporary, as more than one third of refugees relocated to a different settlement between 1923 and 1928. As Figure A.5 shows, the spatial distribution of refugees in 1923 is correlated with but far from identical to the one in 1928.

# **5 Results**

## **5.1 Social integration of refugees**

**Closing the gap** I first examine the educational outcomes of refugees. The Panel A of Table 1 shows that, among adult refugee men in the 1928 census (15-65 years old in 1923), 66% are literate, while it is the case for the 75% of native men.<sup>21</sup> This initial negative gap disappears for refugees arrived in Greece at a younger age, i.e., below 15. The 1,270 refugee men sampled in the 2001 census and born between 1908 and 1922 are as likely as natives (born in the same period) to be literate (93%) and to have completed primary school (70%).<sup>22</sup> Differently from men, adult refugee women in 1923 had a literacy rate similar to native women (around 35%). When displaced as children, they became later in life more educated than native women. As for the second-generation refugees born in Greece, the Panel C of Table 1 shows that, among adult men, descendants of refugees and natives have similar educational attainment. Among women, refugees’ offspring are more educated than natives’.

**Factors of convergence** What factors can account for the observed pattern of convergence? Confronted with a mass inflow of refugee children that increased the school-age population by more than 20% in a few months, the RSC and the Greek State managed to open enough new schools to avoid overcrowding and accommodate the newcomers (see section 2). This public investment likely contributed to the impressive progress in literacy among refugees who were young enough to seat in the newly opened classrooms: the 1928 census reveals that the refugee-native gap in literacy went from -12% to less than -1% among male cohorts born between 1910 in 1917. Figure 2 provides evidence of the important role of the school supply. In provinces where the number of newly opened schools (per children, over the 1921-1917 period) was low (bottom tercile), male

> 21This data is provided by the 1928 census who ask respondents whether they are able to read and write in their mother tongue (not necessarily in the Greek language) - See Figure A.2.

> 22The sample I use in the 2001 census are made of individuals older than 78. One concern might be it is a nonrandom sample with respect to education as mortality rates are typically higher for less educated people. Yet there is no reason to expect that the educational gradient of mortality rates is different between natives and refugees. Second, life expectancy is typically above 80 years in Greece.

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