Mathias Czaika

• Head of Department at University for Continuing Education Krems

Tackling the root causes’ of migration has emerged as a central strategy for the European Union to manage the movements of people from middle- or low-income countries. While the effectiveness of this approach remains a subject of debate, the field of migration studies has highlighted the interplay of multiple migration drivers, or driver complexes,...

Menschen aus dem globalen Norden können Grenzen heute leichter denn je überqueren. Jene aus dem globalen Süden dagegen werden längst nicht mehr nur an Staatsgrenzen kontrolliert. Sie sind bereits in ihren Herkunftsländern mit Grenzen konfrontiert, die bis tief in die staatlichen Territorien im globalen Norden hineinreichen. Diese territorialen Gren...

Migration inherently embodies uncertainty and dynamism, eluding precise conceptualization, definition and measurement. Embedded within intricate migration driver environments and shaped by the diverse agency of actors involved—prospective migrants, intermediaries and policymakers—migration defies easy prediction and effective policy response. This...

The Sahel region has become a focal point for externalisation policies seeking to prevent the onward travel of migrants bound for North Africa and Europe. In this context, humanitarian actors are increasingly called upon to implement migration control policies or to address migrants’ vulnerabilities during journeys characterised by ‘extended tempor...

This article analyses the categorical and spatial linkages within migration policy areas across 31 European countries from 1990 to 2020, examining over 5000 migration policy changes. It reveals distinct patterns of policy diffusion across space and contrasting trends between different migration policy areas. While migrant admission policies have ex...

This comprehensive study delves into over 100 empirical articles, examining the influence of structural drivers on both internal and international migration. Employing a meta-analysis approach, we dissect these studies to pinpoint the prevalent migration drivers frequently subjected to quantitative scrutiny. Our investigation extends to scrutinizin...

This article explores Europe’s external migration mix, considering three policy instruments which form part of the EU’s remote control of borders: (1) visa regulations managing entry and cross-border mobility, (2) readmission agreements facilitating assisted and forced return of migrants without legal right to remain, and (3) resettlement of refuge...

Growing social and economic inequalities, and consequently, unfulfilled life aspirations trigger the migration intentions of millions, if not billions of people around the world. Surveys by Gallup World Poll suggest that more than 750 million adults would like to migrate if they had the chance to do so (Esipova et al., 2018). Hence, globally ‘only’...

What drives the restrictiveness of immigration reforms? To what extent does the political ideology of parties in government and parliament matter? Drawing on immigration policy data offering unprecedented historical and geographical coverage, we analyse the drivers of immigration reforms in 21 Western immigration countries between 1970 and 2012. Ou...

This research note reports novel results on the negative effect of time zone differences on international tourism in a global sample of countries over the period 1995–2013. A gravity-type model, which has become standard in international tourism demand, is estimated with Pseudo-Poisson maximum likelihood, controlling for geographical distance and o...

This article provides an empirical assessment of global scientific mobility over the past four decades, based on bibliometric data. We find (i) an increasing diversity of origin and destination countries integrated in global scientific mobility, with (ii) the centre of gravity of scientific knowledge production and migration destinations moving con...

This chapter examines the major patterns and drivers of interlinked geographical and career mobilities of Indian-born researchers and scientists. Based on a global survey and in-depth interviews, this study shows that the mobility of Indian researchers is mainly driven by an intrinsic motivation to internationalize their scientific careers, but has...

Europe has become a major destination for international migrants. By 2015, 34.3 million people living in an EU member state were born outside of the EU-28, and an additional 18.5 million persons had been born in another EU country than the one currently residing in. In this context of a growing foreign-born population, which is now at about 10% of...

This paper synthesizes insights from new global data on the effectiveness of migration policies. It investigates the complex links between migration policies and migration trends to disentangle policy effects from structural migration determinants. The analysis challenges two central assumptions underpinning the popular idea that migration restrict...

This book explores and critically reviews the complex relationship between contemporary high-skilled migration processes and skill-specific migration policies. The analytical and methodological approach is multidisciplinary, offering a broad and comprehensive perspective on high-skilled migration in the twenty-first century. It provides a comparati...

This chapter uses two pioneering databases to analyse the implications of the global economic crisis on international migration. The first details inflows of migrant workers of 185 nationalities to ten OECD destinations, disaggregated by skill level between 2000 and 2012. The second comprises immigration policies implemented by nineteen OECD countr...

Over the past decades an increasing number of countries have developed a growing interest in attracting and retaining skilled and highly skilled migrant workers. This chapter provides an introduction into the nature and dynamics of the global skill market and the role of states and state policies in international migration processes of highly skill...

This volume highlights the challenges of contemporary policymaking and scholarship on high-skilled migration. Both areas often focus rather narrowly on migration policy without considering systematically and rigorously other economic, social, and political drivers of migration. These structural drivers are often equally or sometimes even more impor...

States have a general interest in facilitating the cross-border mobility of people in order to benefit from economic globalisation. Yet, mainly due to security concerns, most governments grant visa-free mobility only very selectively. Drawing on a new bilateral visa policy database covering up to 194 destination and 214 origin countries over the 19...

Internationalisation has become a central feature of academic careers as academics are increasingly expected to be mobile. Yet, we still know relatively little about the actual patterns and drivers of academic mobility across space and time. Using unique data from a recent survey of around 4,600 Indian academics across the globe, this article exami...

Drawing on the new DEMIG VISA database which covers global bilateral travel restrictions from 1973 to 2013, this paper explores patterns and trends in international visa regimes. We construct indices of cross-regional inbound and outbound travel restrictiveness to investigate (i) the extent to which different world regions and regional unions have...

Combining unique, annual, bilateral data on labor flows of highly skilled immigrants for 10 OECD destinations between 2000 and 2012, with new databases comprising both unilateral and bilateral policy instruments, we present the first judicious cross-country assessment of policies aimed to attract and select high-skilled workers. Points-based system...

The effectiveness of migration policies has been widely contested. However, because of methodological and conceptual limitations, evidence has remained inconclusive. Moreover, prior studies focus on the effects of policies on inflows and fail to assess the simultaneous effect of policies on outflows. This is essential from a theoretical point of vi...

This article investigates the extent to which restrictive asylum and visa policies trigger an unintended behavioural response of potential and rejected asylum seekers. Based on our analysis of bilateral asylum and visa policies on migrant flows to 29 European states in the 2000s, we find evidence of a significant deflection into irregularity at wor...

Most European states consider the immigration of foreign workers as an important means to decelerate the decline of national workforces as a consequence of population ageing and have developed strategies and policies to respond to the increasing demand of employers for certain types of skills in short- or long-term shortages. This chapter aims to g...

People fearing persecution, violence, and terror often choose to abandon their property and livelihoods to relocate elsewhere. Beyond violence-related causes of refugee flights, the relevance and relative importance of other political, economic, or social determinants of involuntary displacements are still unclear. Refugee movements have become inc...

This paper examines the major patterns and drivers of interlinked geographical and career mobilities of Indian-born researchers and scientists. Based on a global survey of 4,600 Indian researchers and 40 in-depth interviews, this study provides evidence on the internationalisation of careers and the diversification of destinations of Indian-born ac...

JEL classification D03; J61; R23 Based on longitudinal information from two waves of the Indonesian Family and Life Survey (IFLS) in 2000 and 2007, we find evidence that migrants are self-selected along higher individual aspirations acquired (or, inherited) before migration. About 70 per cent of aspiration differentials can be explained by factors...

Uncertainty and risk perceptions are important elements in the decision-making process about migration. This study outlines a ‘migration prospect theory’, which aims to explain rather short-term fluctuations of migration flows as a consequence of expectation-based adjustment about future economic prospects. I argue that individuals with migration i...

This article analyses the relationship between migration duration and occupational changes, using the case of Indian expatriates in the Gulf states. Based on the Kerala (India) Migration Survey 2008 and the Return Migration Survey 2009, this analysis investigates whether the length of stay in the Gulf depends on migrants’ occupational trajectories...

Although it is commonly believed that the volume, diversity, geographical scope, and overall complexity of international migration have increased as part of globalization processes, this idea has remained largely untested. This article analyzes shifts in global migration patterns between 1960 and 2000 using indices that simultaneously capture chang...

This article analyses whether and how intra-household remittance volumes vary with the length of a migrant's absence, and whether the drivers and dynamics of remittance decay depend on the migrant's destination. We address these questions by using data from the 64th round of the Indian National Sample Survey, conducted between July 2007 and June 20...

This article elaborates a conceptual framework for assessing the character and effectiveness of immigration policies. It argues that, to a considerable extent, the public and academic controversy concerning this issue is spurious because of fuzzy definitions of policy effectiveness, stemming from confusion between (1) policy discourses, (2) policie...

Are unequal societies more migratory? The position of this paper is: not necessarily, it depends on the type of inequality. By proposing horizontal and vertical inequality between and within ethnic groups as separate drivers of migration, we hypothesize that heightened emigration is a consequence of vertical inequality and feelings of individual re...

This paper explores the role of internal (within country) and international (bilateral and global) relative and absolute deprivation in international migration. It is argued that these three forms of relative deprivation need to be taken into account simultaneously to advance our theoretical understanding of the complex drivers of migration process...

This paper analyses the relationship between migration duration and occupational changes, using the case of Indian expatriates in the Gulf States. De jure, permanent migration to a Gulf state is almost impossible, leaving a (renewable) temporary work visa the only option available for Indian migrants. De facto, however, ‘temporary’ stay can last fo...

This paper aims to disentangle the relationship between aspirations and migration by analysing why Indonesian internal migrants generally have higher aspirations when compared with non-migrants. We ask whether migrants have higher aspirations for improving their economic well-being, and whether this ‘capacity to aspire’ already existed before migra...

This study disentangles the concept of relative deprivation by distinguishing feelings of individual and collective relative deprivation as sources of individual aspirations. Both concepts are then operationalised and empirically tested with regard to their relative importance in migration decision-making. Based on data from the National Sample Sur...

This article analyses the impact of refugee migration movements on the long-term and short-term aid allocation decisions of bilateral donors. We distinguish between different types of forced migrants: internally displaced persons (IDPs) that stay in their country of origin, cross-border refugees that flee to neighboring countries, and asylum seeker...

This study disentangles the effects of feelings of relative deprivation and the capability of households in realizing their migration aspirations. For this purpose we decompose the concept of relative deprivation into intra-group and inter-group relative deprivation and test their relative importance together with levels of absolute deprivation in...

This article examines the driving forces of the magnitude, composition and duration of refugee movements caused by conflict and persecution. The decision to seek temporary or permanent refuge in the region of origin or in a more distant asylum destination is based on inter-temporal optimization. We find that asylum seeking in Western countries is r...

This book explores the determinants of forced migration and its political implications from an economic perspective. It describes the distribution of burdens from forced migration across countries, and analyzes the strategic interaction of national refugee policies to control refugee flows.

This article argues that cooperation to tackle the consequences of large asylum migration inflows is possible only among fairly symmetrical countries. Highly asymmetric countries have no incentives to join and remain in a stable coalition. The distinction between cost and spillover asymmetries shows that financial transfers may release constraints...

This chapter links the topic of refugee migration to the issue of foreign aid. It provides an overview on aid provision and allocation relevant for the subsequent chapters that are focused on the influence of refugee migration movements on the aid allocation decision-making process of bilateral donors.

This chapter analyzes the impact of refugee migration movements on the long-term and short-term aid allocation decisions of bilateral donors. We distinguish between different types of forced migrants: internally displaced persons (IDPs) that stay in their country of origin, cross-border refugees that flee to neighboring countries, and asylum seeker...

This study examines the relationship between bilateral and multilateral aid giving patterns and the number of speeches country representatives delivered in the two core bodies of the United Nations (UN)–the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly, respectively. For the 1990s, empirical evidence indicates a financial return on voice solely f...

This article analyses the impact of refugee migration movements on the long-term and short-term aid allocation decisions of bilateral donors. We distinguish between different types of forced migrants: internally displaced persons (IDPs) that stay in their country of origin, cross-border refugees that flee to neighboring countries, and asylum seeker...

Corruption in the public sector erodes tax compliance and leads to higher tax evasion. Moreover, corrupt public officials abuse their public power to extort bribes from the private agents. In both types of interaction with the public sector, the private agents are bound to face uncertainty with respect to their disposable incomes. To analyse effect...

For many years experimental observations have raised questions about the rationality of economic agents--for example, the Allais Paradox or the Equity Premium Puzzle. The problem is a narrow notion of rationality that disregards fear. This article extends the notion of rationality with new axioms of choice under uncertainty and the decision criteri...

Many developing as well as developed countries provide temporary asylum to a large population of refugees and most of these host countries proclaim to be over-burdened. The effective burden a country has to shoulder is difficult to determine because it basically requests more to consider than just the absolute number of hosted refugees. This paper...