Does Foreign Aid Reduce Migration? Global Evidence from World Bank Projects
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Time & Date
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15:00 pm
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16:30 pm,
March
26,
2025
(Wednesday)
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Topic: |
Does Foreign Aid Reduce Migration? Global Evidence from World Bank Projects |
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Time&Date: |
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Venue |
Room 904, Teaching Complex D Building |
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Speaker: |
Andreas Fuchs University of Göttingen |
| Abstract: |
Policymakers advocate for foreign aid to reduce the ‘root causes’ of migration at origin despite a lack of scientific evidence on the effectiveness of such policies. We examine the global effects of aid on migration by combining georeferenced data on World Bank project announcements and disbursements from 2008-2019 with survey data on migration preferences of one million individuals worldwide and bilateral migration flows. Employing event studies and instrumental variable regressions, we find that in the short term, aid improves expectations of the future and trust in institutions, reducing individual migration preferences and asylum seeker flows. In the longer term, aid increases incomes, leading to more regular migration, consistent with the ‘mobility transition’ theory. |
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Biography: |
Andreas Fuchs is Professor of Development Economics and Director of the Centre for Modern East Asian Studies at the University of Göttingen and Director of the Kiel Institute China Initiative. His research analyzes trade, investment, and development policies with quantitative methods and a special focus on China and other emerging economies. He also investigates the political economy of natural disasters, humanitarian crises, and non-militarized conflicts. Personal website: http://www.andreas-fuchs.net/ |
