We explore the connection between black hole growth at the center of obscured quasars selected from the XMM-COSMOS survey and the physical properties of their host galaxies. We study a bolometric regime (<Lbol> ∼ 8 × 1045 erg s−1) where several theoretical models invoke major galaxy mergers as the main fueling channel for black hole accretion. To derive robust estimates of the host galaxy properties, we use an SED fitting technique to distinguish the AGN and host galaxy emission. We find that at z ∼ 1, ≈ 62% of Type-2 QSOs hosts are actively forming stars and that their rates are comparable to those measured for normal star-forming galaxies. The fraction of star-forming hosts increases with redshift: ≈ 71% at z ∼ 2, and 100% at z ∼ 3. We also find that the evolution from z ∼ 1 to z ∼ 3 of the specific star-formation rate of the Type-2 QSO hosts is in excellent agreement with that measured for star-forming galaxies.
