Theory suggests that cultural similarity of countries increases migration flows between them. This paper brings best practices from the trade gravity literature to migration and tests this prediction. Using time-varying and time-invariant similarity variables based on religion, language, genetics, and the World Values Survey, I estimate a theory-consistent gravity model on a panel of...
We investigate the extent to which asylum policies that aim to deter individuals from migrating irregularly in fact do so. We specifically consider effects of Germany's recent and high-profile asylum policy adjustments, which include accelerated asylum decision processes, the prospect of asylum processing sites outside of Europe, the introduction of a payment card to replace cash benefits, and...
This article studies the effect of windfall income shocks on emigration, conditionally on economic development. The theory of relative income differences between countries assumes that migration decreases with economic development. A growing literature, however, supports the existence of a mobility transition, promoting an inverse U-shaped relationship between income and migration. We provide...
