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It's a wrap. Thanks to all participants for an amazing migration workshop! 😍 The 2026 Bristol Applied Economics Meetings are not over yet. Tomorrow we continue with the Meeting on “Fairness in the Economy.”

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Joan Monras shows that immigrants are not just producers, but also consumers. Using Norwegian data and EU expansions, natives in jobs exposed to immigrant demand experience large, persistent income gains. The labor supply curve slopes upward. Paper: www.econ.ucla.edu/jvogel/GKMV....

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Christoph Albert shows that US immigrants buy substantially more imported goods than natives. They also reduce trade costs and increase local import supply, with small spillovers to natives. Tariffs hit immigrant households far harder than natives. Paper: www.ifo.de/DocDL/cesifo...

@descamillag.bsky.social documents that early 20th-century railroad access in Mexico doubled migration to the US. The effect persists, despite railroads becoming obsolete. Mechanism: migrant-assisting institutions emerged, turning rail lines into persistent migration corridors.

Ran Abramitzky addresses the interaction between immigration and politics: if immigrants' outcomes are positive, why are immigration politics so negative? Long-run perspective using historical US data.

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Seyhun Orcan Sakalli shows Greek Orthodox refugees expelled from Anatolia to Greece in the 1920s (and their descendants) initially lagged in education but eventually outperformed natives. They also favored more portable degrees such as engineering & medicine. Paper: www.nber.org/system/files...

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Can migrant letters shape culture at origin? @martinfs23.bsky.social presents evidence from 6,000+ letters by 19th-century Irish migrants in North America. The Catholic Church’s staggered expansion in the US increased religious content, contributing to a Catholic revival in Ireland.

Welcome to day 2! @david-schindler.de shows that sexual violence committed by Moroccan soldiers in Italy during WWII triggered a far-right shift after the recent arrival of immigrants from Syria/MENA. Mechanism: selective recall of collective memory. Paper: david-schindler.de/workingpaper...

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Closing talk for today by @mushfiq-econ.bsky.social, who revisits the role of outmigration for development, with a focus on rural agricultural economies.

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Next up, Sarah Winton studies Jordan’s decision to grant Syrian refugees the right to work. Refugees moved to better jobs, while Jordanians shifted out of the most exposed occupations. Result: higher output, lower inequality, and the largest gains for the poorest Jordanians.

@linchuanxu.bsky.social studies labor recruitment agencies in China. By connecting workers in poorer regions to jobs in high-wage cities, these middlemen increase temporary migration, narrow regional wage gaps, generate output gains, and capture a large share as profits.

@jeromevallette.bsky.social studies how far-right movements reshape mainstream politics in France. As the Front National gained votes, mainstream right candidates moved to its terrain, talking more negatively about immigration and linking it to crime and welfare.

With Caroline Theoharides, we turn to how migration moves more than people. International mobility can carry skills, ideas, and human capital across borders, with important lessons for how policy shapes who benefits from these flows.

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@yajnagovind.bsky.social studies France’s 1993 reform requiring children of immigrants to formally request French citizenship. The reform weakened French identity, increased perceived discrimination, and reduced cultural integration.

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Emma Thill studies how European national football shapes immigration attitudes. When diverse teams win, people become more open to immigration. When they lose, immigrant-origin players become scapegoats, and support for the far right increases.

Next, @mkaradja.bsky.social shows that war reaches people who never enter the conflict zone. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainians in Sweden saw mental-health prescriptions rise by 30%, while also working and earning more to support family and friends at home.

Alex Yarkin asks how the internet has changed the migration experience. As access expands at home, immigrants in the US stay connected to origin networks, leading to lower English proficiency and naturalization, but less segregation and higher well-being.

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Next, @mettefoged.bsky.social studies Denmark’s decision to label high-immigrant neighborhoods as “ghettos.” Rather than fostering social cohesion, the policy backfired: families chose more foreign-sounding names and cultural distance widened.

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First up is @apuravbhatiya.bsky.social, who shows that violence against Hindus in India fuels anti-Muslim rhetoric in Westminster. Why? UK MPs respond to constituency pressures in areas with larger Hindu communities.

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Toman Barsbai @tomanbarsbai.com · 05/05/2026

The second 2026 Bristol Applied Economics Meeting is on the Economics of Migration. We have an amazing program ahead of us. Stay tuned for one key takeaway per talk. Program: www.baem.info/Program_MIG_...

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Welcome to the third edition of the Bristol Applied Economics Meetings! We start with the Meeting on Development Economics. We have a fantastic lineup of speakers, w/ Kate Orkin @mushfiq-econ.bsky.social, Imran Rasul, and Pauline Rossi as invited speakers. Program: www.baem.info/Program_DEV_...

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Toman Barsbai @tomanbarsbai.com · 05/05/2026

Thanks, Dean. You are too generous! It was very much a joint effort, and @andreassteinmayr.net did a lot of the heavy lifting.

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Reposted by Toman Barsbai

Paul Hufe @paulhufe.net · 04/05/2026

💥 We’re absolutely thrilled that the Bristol Applied Economics Meetings (BÆM) kick off tomorrow at the University of Bristol! 💥 We have an amazing program bringing together leading research on development, migration, and fairness in the economy.

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5/ Huge thanks to the Department of Migrant Workers for the collaboration, and to @johnlist.bsky.social and the referees for a great review process. Joint work with the brilliant @vojtabartos.bsky.social, Victoria Licuanan, @andreassteinmayr.net, Erwin Tiongson, and @deanyang.bsky.social.

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3/ Of course, legal and institutional reforms in destination countries remain essential to protect migrant workers. But this virtually cost-free intervention gives workers a practical tool they can use right now to improve their working conditions.

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2/ Beyond reducing mistreatment, the intervention increased workers’ job satisfaction and the likelihood of contract extension. The likely mechanism: the family photo reduces the employer’s perceived social distance from the worker.

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