Migration policy and other public policies

This paper reviews the comparative multi-level quantitative research on the links between integration policies, the integration situation of immigrants and a wide range of individual and contextual factors. Twenty-one reviewed studies and additional supporting articles indicate that a number of individual and contextual variables explain most of the variation between countries in terms of immigrants’ labour market integration, educational attainment, naturalisation and political participation. Thanks to the use of MIPEX and similar indices, some evidence is emerging that certain integration policies can be related to the specific integration outcomes that they aim to address. So far, only certain general and targeted employment policies can be directly associated with better labour market outcomes for immigrants and a lower incidence of employment discrimination. More indirectly, facilitating naturalisation, a secure residence and a secure family life seems to have positive effects on boosting labour market outcomes for certain immigrants. In the area of employment, studies rarely focus on a specific policy or properly match it to its specific intended target group and outcome. In the area of education, the inclusiveness of the school and education system seems to matter most for immigrant and non-immigrant pupils. Although targeted immigrant education policies adopted at national level do not display consistent results across countries in terms of pupils’ tests scores, most studies conclude that inclusive schools and education systems are more successful when they also target the specific needs of immigrant pupils. Several studies on the acquisition of nationality find that naturalisation policies are perhaps the strongest determinant of the naturalisation rates for immigrants from developing countries. Further research can explore which specific elements of naturalisation policies most help or hinder naturalisation. The few studies on political participation find that targeted policies and the acquisition of nationality may boost participation rates for certain immigrant groups. The fact that studies find no link between the general integration policy (i.e. MIPEX overall score) and a specific labour market outcome (i.e. employment rates for foreign-born) does mean that no causal relationship exist between integration policies and outcomes across countries. Considering that this multi-level research is still in infancy, studies have great room for improvement in terms of their use of databases and methodological tools. A more robust methodological approach using new international datasets can better explore the nuanced links between policies and societal outcomes. Future research needs to pay greater attention to linking a specific integration policy with its actual target group and target outcomes. Studies must also take into account time-sensitive contextual factors and general policies. International surveys can improve their measurement of integration policy outcomes in terms of longterm residence, family reunification, anti-discrimination, language learning, and, to some extent, political participation.

La France et l'Allemagne sont deux grands pays d'immigration. En 2010, les personnes nées à l'étranger représentaient 7,2% et 6,3% de leurs populations respectives (Brücker et al., 2013). En dépit de situations économiques différentes en France et en Allemagne, l'accroissement récent des demandes d'asile et de l'immigration illégale soulève un débat similaire sur les conséquences économiques de l’immigration, et les conclusions à en tirer en termes de régulation des flux migratoires. Au travers de trois work-packages scientifiques (WPs), ce projet cherche à étudier l'impact des travailleurs immigrés sur l’emploi et les salaires des nationaux. Nous souhaitons enrichir la littérature en cherchant à comprendre pourquoi l'impact de l'immigration varie selon le pays de destination. Nous examinerons l'allocation des tâches et les stratégies de production (WP1) et l'intégration commerciale (WP2) afin de détecter les effets conditionnels de l'immigration sur le marché du travail. Nous étudierons également les interactions entre l’intégration des immigrés au marché du travail et les politiques d'immigration (WP3). Le WP1 se focalisera sur le côté de la demande du marché du travail. Nous chercherons à comprendre en quoi les travailleurs immigrés affectent l'allocation des tâches au sein des firmes et entre firmes. Nous étudierons aussi le lien entre l'emploi de travailleurs étrangers et les stratégies de production des firmes (telle que l’outsourcing). Le WP2 analysera dans quelle mesure l'impact des travailleurs étrangers sur les salaires des travailleurs nationaux est conditionné par l'intégration commerciale et les caractéristiques d'une économie tel que son niveau de granularité (i.e. la prévalence de grandes firmes dans les dynamiques macroéconomiques). Le WP3 étudiera, de manière théorique et empirique, les déterminants des politiques d'immigration à destination de certaines catégories d'immigrés dans les pays de l'UE. Par ailleurs, nous analyserons la façon dont le degré de substitution entre travailleurs nationaux et étrangers affecte les politiques d'immigration. Le WP4 organisera la coopération scientifique. Les équipes partenaires comptent des chercheurs aux compétences complémentaires, un prérequis pour répondre aux enjeux d'un projet se situant à l’intersection de l'économie des migrations, du commerce international et de l'économie politique de l'immigration. Les deux équipes se pencheront sur le côté de la demande du marché du travail (WP1) et sur l'intégration commerciale (WP2), alors que l'équipe allemande se focalisera sur les politiques d'immigration (WP3). Il est attendu un transfert de connaissances concernant l'utilisation des données allemandes et françaises. Les travaux seront publiés dans des revues scientifiques de haut niveau, et les recommandations de politiques publiques seront disséminées au travers de policy papers. Le projet contribuera au débat public portant sur les conséquences économiques de l'immigration en Europe.

Over the last two decades both immigration politics and research on immigration issues have become very important. So far, there is however no dataset that would allow researchers to systematically investigate immigration policies across a large sample of countries. The aim of the Immigration Policies in Comparison (IMPIC) project is therefore to provide a set of sophisticated quantitative indices to measure immigration policies in all OECD countries and for the time period 1980-2010. By means of this new dataset the causes and effects of immigration policies will be studied more systematically.

DEMIG POLICY tracks more than 6,500 migration policy changes enacted by 45 countries around the world mostly in the 1945-2013 period. The policy measures are coded according to the policy area and migrant group targeted, as well as the change in restrictiveness they introduce in the existing legal system. The database allows for both quantitative and qualitative research on the long-term evolution and effectiveness of migration policies. DEMIG POLICY was compiled between 2010 and 2014 as part of the DEMIG project (Determinants of International Migration: A Theoretical and Empirical Assessment of Policy, Origin and Destination Effects). It tracks 6,500 migration policy changes (both immigration and emigration) in 45 countries, most of them enacted in the 1945-2013 period. DEMIG POLICY assesses for each policy measure whether it represents a change towards more restrictiveness (coded +1) or less restrictiveness (coded -1) within the existing legal system. Besides this main assessment of change in restrictiveness, every policy change is also coded according to the policy area (border control, legal entry, integration, exit), policy tool (recruitment agreements, work permit, expulsion, quota, regularization, resettlement, carrier sanctions, etc.), migrant group (low- and high-skilled workers, family members, refugees, irregular migrants, students etc.) and migrant origin (all foreign nationalities, EU citizens, specific nationalities etc.) targeted. The database has been compiled by the DEMIG team, in particular by Katharina Natter, Simona Vezzoli and Hein de Haas, and reviewed by national migration policy experts.

Over the last two decades both immigration politics and research on immigration issues have become very important. So far, there is however no dataset that would allow researchers to systematically investigate immigration policies across a large sample of countries. The aim of the Immigration Policies in Comparison (IMPIC) project is therefore to provide a set of sophisticated quantitative indices to measure immigration policies in all OECD countries and for the time period 1980-2010. By means of this new dataset the causes and effects of immigration policies will be studied more systematically. The Immigration Policies in Comparison (IMPIC) project is led by Marc Helbling and was funded by the Emmy-Noether program of the German Research Foundation for the period 2011-2016. Please cite the following overview paper when you use the IMPIC data: Marc Helbling, Liv Bjerre, Friederike Römer and Malisa Zobel (2017): “Measuring Immigration Policies: The IMPIC Database”, European Political Science 16(1): 79-98. Link.

The main question of this research project is: how do migration policies of receiving and sending states affect the size, direction and nature of international migration to wealthy countries? The effectiveness of migration policies has been widely contested in the face of their apparent failure to steer immigration and their many unintended, perverse effects. Due to fundamental conceptual and methodological flaws, most empirical evidence has remained largely descriptive and biased by omitting crucial sending country and policy variables. This project answers this question by embedding the systematic empirical analysis of policy effects into a comprehensive theoretical framework of the macro and meso-level forces driving international migration to and from wealthy countries. This is achieved by linking separately evolved migration theories focusing on either sending or receiving countries and integrating them with theories on the internal dynamics of migration processes. A systematic review and categorisation of receiving and sending country migration policies will provide an improved operationalisation of policy variables. Subsequently, this framework will be subjected to quantitative empirical tests drawing on gross and bilateral (country-to-country) migration flow data, with a particular focus on Europe. Methodologically, this project is groundbreaking by introducing a longitudinal, double comparative approach by studying migration flows of multiple origin groups to multiple destination countries. This design enables a unique, simultaneous analysis of origin and destination country, network and policy effects. Theoretically, this research project is innovative by going beyond simple push-pull and equilibrium models and linking sending and receiving side, and economic and non-economic migration theory. This project is policy-relevant by improving insight in the way policies shape migration processes in their interaction with other migration determinants

The main question of this research project is: how do migration policies of receiving and sending states affect the size, direction and nature of international migration to wealthy countries? The effectiveness of migration policies has been widely contested in the face of their apparent failure to steer immigration and their many unintended, perverse effects. Due to fundamental conceptual and methodological flaws, most empirical evidence has remained largely descriptive and biased by omitting crucial sending country and policy variables. This project answers this question by embedding the systematic empirical analysis of policy effects into a comprehensive theoretical framework of the macro and meso-level forces driving international migration to and from wealthy countries. This is achieved by linking separately evolved migration theories focusing on either sending or receiving countries and integrating them with theories on the internal dynamics of migration processes. A systematic review and categorisation of receiving and sending country migration policies will provide an improved operationalisation of policy variables. Subsequently, this framework will be subjected to quantitative empirical tests drawing on gross and bilateral (country-to-country) migration flow data, with a particular focus on Europe. Methodologically, this project is groundbreaking by introducing a longitudinal, double comparative approach by studying migration flows of multiple origin groups to multiple destination countries. This design enables a unique, simultaneous analysis of origin and destination country, network and policy effects. Theoretically, this research project is innovative by going beyond simple push-pull and equilibrium models and linking sending and receiving side, and economic and non-economic migration theory. This project is policy-relevant by improving insight in the way policies shape migration processes in their interaction with other migration determinants

"Die Nachwuchsgruppe untersuchte die Einwanderungspolitik aller OECD-Länder. Ist die jeweilige nationale Immigrationspolitik restriktiv oder liberal? Und welche Effekte haben die Regulierungen? Wie können Unterschiede zwischen Ländern und über Zeit hinweg erklärt werden? Um diese Fragen zu beantworten, wurden die formalen Bestimmungen, die Kontroll- und Implementationsmechanismen untersucht. Im ersten Schritt wurden hierzu ausdifferenzierte quantitative Indikatoren zur Messung der Restriktivität von Einwanderungspolitik in allen OECD-Ländern erstellt – aufgegliedert nach Arbeitsmigration, Familienzusammenführung und Asylsuchenden / Flüchtlingen. Der daraus resultierende innovative Datensatz eröffnete neue Forschungsperspektiven und erlaubte die Prüfung bereits bestehender Argumente zu den Hintergründen und Effekten von Immigrationspolitik auf eine systematischere Weise. Im zweiten Teil des Projektes wurde die Implementation von Migrationspolitik mit Hilfe von detaillierten Fallstudien analysiert. Weitergefasst versuchte dieser Teil des Projektes die “Black Box” verwaltungstechnischer Entscheidungsprozesse zu untersuchen. Dies sollte helfen, die Zusammenhänge zwischen formeller Gesetzgebung und den Folgen von Einwanderungspolitik besser zu verstehen."

The Amsterdam Treaty introduced a new Community policy on immigration and asylum. Its objectives were defined in Tampere by the European Council which stressed the need for more efficient management of migration flows at all their stages. The management should address various forms of migrations and be exercised by means of various instruments in the countries of destination and origin. Thus, the creation of European immigration policy becomes a complex process of co-ordination of national policies with the Community objectives. Amongst diverse migration trends in Europe, the emergence of new immigration countries seems particularly important. The transition of migratory status followed economic development induced by the participation in the common European market and political stability. The socio-economic conditions of the change as well as policy responses to the new situation varied considerably between the countries of North-western, Southern and Eastern Europe and led to various structures of immigration and impacts on labour markets. These differences provide interesting research basis which could shed light on the immigration mechanisms in Europe. In this 30-month project, the consortium of scientific institutions from 9 EU states, all with tremendous experience in migration research will analyse the causes, characteristics and impact of migratory flows in the new European immigration destinations - Southern and Eastern Europe, and with reference to the "established" European immigration countries. Comparing the migrations and relevant policies will facilitate identification of similar challenges and transfer of experiences. The analysis will address historical, political and economic background of migration processes and its final goal will consist in preparation of a model of future migratory trends in selected parts of the European Union. The strategic objective of the project is to provide support for the European and national immigration policies.

In this paper I research economic, non-economic and the institutional determinants of bilateral migration flows into OECD countries. My contribution to the growing literature is two-fold. First, I explicitly account for the panel structure of migration costs information acquisition, physical costs of the move and social exclusion). Second, building upon Beine et al. (2011b), I proceed with the analysis of determinants of bilateral migration flows disaggregated by educational attainments in the panel data environment. The preliminary results show that the defined cost variables are significant in explaining the volume and composition of the flow of migrants, the result not being sensitive to the model specification. Network effects promote negative self-selection and the quality of migrants positively correlates, while the physical distance, existence of a common language and colonial links between countries are insignificant in explaining the educational composition of migrants. I further conclude that the restrictive and skill selective immigration policies of the major destination countries bias the conventional role of the economic push and pull factors.

Frankreich und Deutschland sind bedeutende Einwanderungsländer. In 2010 machten im Ausland geborene Personen 7.2% bzw. 6.3% der jeweiligen Bevölkerung aus (Brücker et al 2013). Trotz unterschiedlicher wirtschaftlicher Situationen (insbesondere hinsichtlich Ungleichheit und Arbeitslosigkeit), hat der jüngste Anstieg von Asylbewerbern und illegaler Immigration in beiden Ländern eine lebhafte Debatte um eine Verschärfung der Immigrationspolitik ausgelöst. Die ökonomischen Auswirkungen der Zuwanderung, insbesondere für die einheimischen Arbeitskräfte, sind dabei zentrale Themen.In vier Arbeitsabschnitten (WPs) soll dieses Projekt der Wirkung von zugewanderten Arbeitskräften auf einheimische Beschäftigung und Löhne nachgehen. Wir erweitern die die bestehende Literatur, indem wir untersuchen, ob und warum sich die Wirkung der Zuwanderer zwischen verschiedenen Ländern unterscheidet. Wir werden insbesondere die Allokation von Aufgaben und Arbeitsplätzen (WP1) und das Ausmaß der Handelsverflechtung (WP2) betrachten, um Arbeitsmarkteffekte der Immigration aufzudecken. Wir wollen zudem die Wechselwirkungen zwischen Arbeitsmarkt­effekten und Immigrationspolitik untersuchen (WP3).WP1 wird sich auf die Nachfrageseite des Arbeitsmarktes konzentrieren. Wir werden untersuchen, wie die Zuwanderung die Allokation von Aufgaben und Arbeitsplätzen innerhalb von Firmen und über Firmen hinweg beeinflusst.WP2 wird zuerst den Folgen von länderspezifisch unterschiedlichen Handelsverflechtungen für die Arbeitsmarkteffekte von Immigration nachgehen. Desweiteren soll untersucht werden, wie das Ausmaß der Unternehmenskonzentration (in Abhängigkeit von der Offenheit des Handels) die Verbindung zwischen Immigration und einheimischen Löhnen beeinflusst.WP3 wird sowohl theoretisch wie empirisch die politischen Determinanten der Immigrationspolitik analysieren, über europäische Länder hinweg und im Hinblick auf verschiedene Arten von Immigration. Es soll zudem darum gehen, wie der Grad der Substituierbarkeit zwischen Zuwanderern und Einheimischen von den Determinanten der Einwanderungspolitik abhängt.WP4 dient der Kooperation. Das Team umfasst Forscher mit ausgeprägten Komplementaritäten, die für dieses Projekt an der Schnittstelle zwischen Migrationsökonomie, Außenhandelstheorie und politischer Ökonomie der Migration gebraucht werden. Die Ergebnisse sollen in gemeinsame Publikationen innerhalb des französischen (WP1, WP2) und des deutschen (WP3) Teams, sowie beider Teams (WP2) einfließen. Wir erwarten desweiteren einen Austausch hinsichtlich der Nutzung der französischen und deutschen Arbeitgeber-Arbeitnehmer-Statistiken.Das Projekt soll die öffentliche Debatte durch ein besseres Verständnis der ökonomischen Effekte der Zuwanderung in Europa bereichern. Die Projektbeteiligten werden ihre Ergebnisse intensiv in die Öffentlichkeit tragen. Die Endergebnisse sollen in hochrangigen Fachzeitschriften und die Politikempfehlungen in Politikjournalen und Blogs veröffentlicht werden.

Das Projekt untersucht den Wettbewerb um hochqualifizierte Immigranten aus der Perspektive der Empfängerländer. Es wird detailliert die Qualifikationsstruktur von Immigranten in der OECD, die Determinanten hochqualifizierter Immigration, die Wirkungen hocvhqualifizierter Immigration auf Arbeitsmarkt und Produktivität soweie die politische Ökonomie der Einwanderungspolitik untersucht. Projektziel Analyse der Auswirkungen des zunehmenden Wettbewerbs um hochqualifizierte Migranten.

Τhe causes of irregular migration can be traced at the junctions between individual search for life prospects, demand in the labour market, and restrictive migration control policies. The present report aims at examining the way in which these three forces (individual activity, labour market and policies) intertwine in the case of irregular Georgian migration to Greece. The research looks at the ways in which various factors, including Greek policies of migration and asylum management and migration control affect the plans and the actions of Georgian irregular migrants.

In deze toekomstverkenning biedt de Adviescommissie voor Vreemdelingenzaken (ACVZ) handvatten om met de onzekere toekomst van migratie om te gaan. Onder meer klimaatverandering, conflicten in de landen rond Europa, de bevolkingsgroei in Afrika, de toekomst van de Europese Unie, innovatie en de sociale cohesie in Nederland passeren de revue als relevante factoren voor migratie. Op basis daarvan schetst dit rapport vier verschillende mogelijke ‘toekomsten’ waarin een migratiebeleid ontwikkeld kan worden. We zijn het in Nederland echter niet met elkaar eens over de richting van het migratiebeleid. Sommige Nederlanders vinden dat migratiebeleid vooral het economisch belang van Nederland moet dienen, anderen dat migratiebeleid er is om vluchtelingen en migranten te beschermen en weer anderen vinden juist dat migratie een last is voor onze samenleving en daarom zoveel mogelijk moet worden beperkt. De ACVZ heeft daarom drie verschillende beleidsscenario’s geschreven, die ieder één van deze perspectieven als uitgangspunt heeft. Uit de studie komt duidelijk naar voren dat de toekomstbestendigheid van de beleidsscenario’s erg afhankelijk is van de vraag hoe de (onbekende) toekomst eruit komt te zien. Voor een zinvol beleid zal zodoende een voortdurende afstemming van het beleid aan de omgeving noodzakelijk zijn. Aandachtspunten die volgens de ACVZ de komende 12 jaar prioriteit verdienen zijn onder meer: 1) Het aanpakken van de grondoorzaken van gedwongen migratie; 2) Het bijdragen aan hoogwaardige en toekomstgerichte opvang in de regio; 3) Een deugdelijke grensbewaking; 4) Een goed functionerende internationale samenwerking; 5) De gevolgen voor de sociale cohesie in de samenleving; 6) Participatie in de samenleving van migranten die toegelaten zijn; 7) De migratiebestendigheid van het sociale zekerheidsstelsel; 8) Een open en eenduidige communicatie van de overheid

"(1) Aspirations: In the absence of reliable, internationally available migration flow data necessary for statistical forecasting, policymakers increasingly turn to survey data on emigration intentions to evaluate future migration trends. The important assumption – i.e. that there is a measurable and systematic relationship between the intention to migrate and actual migration – has not been firmly established at the international level. In a first step, we examine the association between estimated population averages of emigration intentions and official migration flow data based on data for more than 160 countries. First results show a strong association between emigration intentions and recorded bilateral flows to industrialized countries, as well as between intentions and aggregated out-migration. The results provide policymakers with a reliability assessment of survey data on emigration intentions and encourage future attempts to incorporate survey data in formal statistical migration forecasting models. (2) Policies: Furthermore, we want to explore to what extent migrants consciously decide to migrate to countries that allow them to improve their economic situation taking into account the difficulties to migrate to this country. In particular, we would like to know how the difficulty to immigrate into a country prevents potential migrants from moving to this country. Might it be that migrants decide to move to more liberal countries to increase the chances to be accepted? We already know that migration flows increase when the destination country is economically more attractive (Borjas 1989; Hatton and Williamson 2003) and decrease when immigration policies are more restrictive (Helbling and Leblang 2018). These effects are to some extent due to rejections during the migration processes when for example visa applications are declined or people are not allowed to enter a country when they arrive at the border. (3) Corruption: Eventually, besides immigration policies in potential destination countries, the formation and subsequent materialization of migration aspirations is determined by various factors in the country of residence. However, there is surprisingly little empirical evidence on factors outside the pure economic sphere. For instance, the link between corruption and emigration has received growing attention. Until now, the evidence claiming a strong relationship relies on individual case studies and correlational analysis which severely limits generalizability. In our study, we apply quasi-experimental methods including instrumental variables and propensity score matching to global survey data on 130 countries over 6 years, covering almost 600’000 individual respondents. We find support for the notion that corruption – systematically and strongly - induces emigration plans across countries, across various model specifications and estimation methods. Strengthening causal claims about the link between corruption and emigration is important for further research in this field. Results are also relevant for policy-makers exploring options to address irregular migration in the context of development and trade agreements. "

"In this project, we investigate the (sometimes unintended) consequences of policies that have been implemented to regulate immigration and to subsequently facilitate the socio-economic integration of newly arrived immigrants. (1) Networks: First, we exploit a natural experiment in Switzerland, where asylum seekers are randomly assigned to cantons. This immigration policy can be regarded as a transparent and neutral way of distributing refugees across a country to “share a burden”. At the same time, such restrictions regarding free movement within a country come with hefty consequences for the persons affected. On the one hand, a large share of jobs are found through referrals within social networks: in the US, for instance, around 30-60% (Bewley, 2007). At least since Granovetter (1973), a rich theoretical literature has rationalized this fact by modelling networks as non-market institutions that help overcome information frictions inherent in the labor market. From workers' perspective, networks grant their members preferential access to information on high-quality job openings, e.g. as in Calvo-Armengol and Jackson (2004). On the firm side, networks may help alleviate the asymmetric information problem in hiring leading potentially to a better job-match, e.g. as in Beaman and Magruder (2012). In our study, we focus on the value of social networks from the perspective of workers. Swiss asylum policy provides a unique natural experiment to study the effects of social networks on labor market outcomes. Because of the truly exogenous placement, long horizon over which the policy was in place and the large sample size, we can delve deeper into the mechanisms of how social networks affect labor market integration than previous studies have done and look at network structure beyond simply its size. Our findings will enable us to distinguish among a large set of theoretical models of the value of networks from the point of view of individual job seekers. (2) Maternity: At the same time, such immigration policies also affect the social integration of immigrants and, in our case, individual health and wellbeing. Specifically, we exploit the same unique setting to assess the relevance of information on infants' health. Random allocation of asylum seekers in Switzerland allows us to first, study the spatial differences in health care provision across the country. Further, by exploiting that French-speaking refugees are randomly placed in French- or non-French-speaking regions, we can credibly identify the language-match-health-gap, based on refugees that do not speak French as a control group and placed on either side of the language border (in a Difference in Differences framework). By extending the language to a novel (continuous) measure of language distance, we are able to factor out country of origin effects using bi-lateral regressions. A second strand of policies targets the (economic) integration of immigrants and generally of persons outside the labor market. A common approach is to provide measures, so-called Active Labor Market Programs (ALMP) that enhance a jobseeker’s employability (e.g., through additional human capital) or that keep a person close to the labor market through occupational programs. (3) Access Bias: Some measures, however, can negatively affect labor market outcomes, such as unemployment duration and post-unemployment wages, because of factors such as human capital deprivation or lock-in effects. Based on encompassing registry data that allow researchers to control for usually unobserved employability variables, we find evidence of a systematic access bias whereby caseworkers in Switzerland assign unemployed immigrants to activation measures based on what we call a competition logic that is mainly driven by and conforms to an economic rationale and the job center’s performance evaluation. From the perspective of immigrants’ labor market integration, this may be problematic because it results in an overrepresentation of immigrants in measures with little efficacy rather than in measures that could compensate for (some of) their employability disadvantages. Conversely, we find that Swiss citizens are relatively advantaged in the ability to access more measures that promote human capital enhancement (compensation logic) and that have been shown to be successful tools for labor market reintegration. It is plausible that a stronger reliance on the competition logic by caseworkers and the consequential overrepresentation of migrants in low-efficacy measures amplifies migrants’ general labor market disadvantages. (4) Priming: This rather negative stance on integration measures in the form of ALMPs is further advanced by a study where we present indications that ALMP participants are pushed into lower paying jobs compared to equally qualified non-participants. In this study on the effect of subjective beliefs on employment outcomes we find that the employment chances one year after the start of unemployment increase for both ALMP participants and non-participants when self-control and employment beliefs are high. In contrast, higher initial reservation wages increase employment chances for non-participants but substantially reduce them for ALMP participants. Previous studies have shown that beneficial effects of activation measures are often abrogated by lock-in effects, human capital deprivation, and/or negative signals to prospective employers, all of which are particularly harmful for highly skilled workers and higher-paying jobs. We argue that these detrimental effects ultimately push ALMP participants into jobs below their expected salary, where the negative consequences of activation measures are less pronounced. (5) Heterogeneity: A related aspect that is crucial from an integration perspective is whether such effects of ALMPs differ across groups, that is, whether the participation of “natives” turns out to have different consequences for their labor market performance compared to participating immigrants. In this study, we argue that effect heterogeneity between native and migrant participants can provide information about the type of discrimination that migrants face in the labor market. Using encompassing administrative data from Switzerland, we observe all registered jobseekers in 2004 and follow their monthly labor market trajectories over 10 subsequent years. Our findings are consistent with earlier evaluations of ALMPs in Switzerland and elsewhere, which find that participation effects of ALMPs are limited and sometimes even negative. However, findings show that employers value the additional productivity-related information of ALMP participation more if participants have a foreign nationality. We infer that labor market discrimination against migrants is dominated by statistical reasoning on the part of prospective employers. (6) LM-Index: Eventually, we provide a meta-analytical study where we argue that comparative assessments of integration policies fail to properly take confounding factors into account. That is, immigrant groups exposed to integration policies in different countries differ in their characteristics because immigration policies and migrants’ destination choice induce an ex-ante bias. To circumvent this limit to comparative analyses, we aspire to collect and generate data on all existing policy dimensions and subsequently provide a comparative analysis of immigrants’ labor market integration in industrialized countries."

This project asks how governments of migrant sending countries can influence the rights of their low skilled migrant workers in receiving countries. The project approaches this question from both the sending and the receiving country side; looking at factors that determine when and how sending states intervene and what determines the responses from receiving countries. The surplus of aspiring migrants and economic importance of remittances would suggest sending states have little bargaining power. Single case studies however suggest that some nevertheless intervene. A comprehensive overview of the drivers of immigration and emigration policy will result in a set of hypotheses. A survey of policy makers in sending countries will generate an overview of interventions by sending country governments. The project’s core is a systematic comparative case study of six sending countries with partly overlapping receiving countries and three of these receiving countries. The sending country cases are three sets of two countries in which migrant remittances constitute a similar share of GDP but involvement with the rights of their workers abroad differ; the Philippines, Senegal, India, Ecuador, Morocco and Vietnam. The receiving countries are South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Italy. These countries vary strongly in the rights for migrant workers and the level of cooperation with sending states. QCA and process tracing will be used to assess the hypotheses. The project is innovative in 1) providing a systematic analysis of a larger number of cases including countries rarely covered in comparative studies on migrant rights, 2) examining of the actions of both sending and receiving countries, and 3) taking the trade-off between migrant numbers and rights into account. The project will push theory development forward by connecting theoretical fields and expanding geographic scope. It is policy-relevant by providing further insight into how the rights of migrant workers can be improved.

MInMUS investigates why, how and with what effects City Networks (CNs henceforth) voluntarily mobilise to enhance cities’ capacity to promote innovative approaches to migration governance. It does so by examining four CNs in three multilevel political settings, i.e. the supranational EU system and federalist states of Canada and the United States. The ambition is to make an original and pathbreaking contribution to the theorisation of migration policymaking and of Multilevel Governance (MLG) more generally. To this end, I conceptualise MLG as a specific configuration of policymaking which challenges state-centred hierarchies (vertical dimension) and blurs state–society boundaries (horizontal dimension); yet, contrary to the prevailing normative approach underlying the literature, I adopt a critical perspective on ‘governance’, and I regard it as both the interactive processes that lead to the production and implementation of policy and as the sets of ideas and discourses that policy actors elaborate about these processes (in terms of cooperation, coordination, participation etc). Building on this approach, MInMUS will push forward the boundaries of research on the MLG of migration in three ways: 1) from the theoretical point of view MInMUS will take an actor-centred perspective with the goal of theorizing about the institutional and political mechanisms and factors that account for the emergence of CNs as instances of MLG policy arrangements (‘why’ questions); 2) from the empirical point of view MInMUS will fill a key gap in existing research by investigating how CNs mobilise on migration and with what effects; and 3) from the methodological point of view, MInMUS will provide an innovative and comprehensive approach to the study of CNs and MLG, which combines a comparative research design with the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods.

Since 2007, the number of refugees fleeing conflict and violence has doubled to about 25 million. Mass migration has destabilized the European Union, lead to broad changes in national immigration policies, and triggered the resurgence of far right, xenophobic political parties. Yet little is known about how illicit human smuggling institutions may be driving migration and the subsequent political changes. We leverage granular data on migrant flows across the Mediterranean, coupled with information about sea routes, riots at port cities, and wave conditions, to conduct two studies. We find substantial evidence that migrant flows respond to political and environmental risks as well as a government-led counter-smuggling intervention. These findings clarify drivers of migration and suggest actions that can be taken to mitigate human smuggling.

The objectives of the Study are two-fold: To analyze the key labour market determinants of migration flows from selected Arab Mediterranean Countries (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and the Occupied Palestinian Territories), with a particular emphasis on demographic pressures, wage differentials and relative income disparities with the EU, employment policies, labour market flexibility and unemployment rates; this analysis includes the impact of migration on the labour markets of Arab Mediterranean Country (AMCs) labour markets; To propose a series of specific recommendations to improve the design of the EU’s migration policies towards AMCs and policy options available to them for the management of mismatches between labour supply and demand.